Magenta, Lust had some pleasing aspects within the music. Amy planted the question of whether it might be the pinnacle of prog rock. As comparisons were made to the prog rock group YES, it would be a very interesting to see Amy's reaction to Close to the Edge. For me the 70s was the pinnacle due to the musicianship and not the 20th century, where, to my ears at least, technology plays a bigger role. For the best audio, obviously the studio version of Close to the Edge is the most appropriate comparison, but there is the live version on youtube from the Rainbow Theatre in London 1972, which is very entertaining even down to the stage effects albeit rather lo-fi for today's standards.
While I really enjoyed this piece, many of us will point out that you should be listening to the 60s/70s pioneers and masters of progressive rock first, such as YES, who this band sounds a bit like at times. In fact you noticed the similarities to Jon and Vangelis (good job Vlad) which features Jon Anderson, the lead singer of YES. On the other hand, I do think it is appropriate to look at music from 2000 to the present day, since we were unfair to the recent decades in the rock history episode, by not emphasizing enough that there is still good music being produced, just not as much in today's mainstream. But in general, I think your exposure and reaction order should start with the influencer rather than the influenced.
It begs the question: can music that is derivative and retrospective be called progressive ? I would say no. A band like The Battles from around 2010 or so are progressive. This is Magenta track is actually traditional to me. Nothing wrong with traditional styles, I love traditional styles. I think being progressive for the sake of being progressive isn’t interesting to me.
@@Hartlor_Tayley What you are saying makes a lot of sense and I agree with your sentiment. But you probably know me well enough by now to have heard my speech on the problems with labels, since we all have our own interpretations on what they mean. Of course I just end up looking like a hypocrite since I use these labels all the time myself.😉 Besides, it then takes all the fun out of debating these labels in chat.
@@PeterBuwen I don't understand either, particularly since we were promised YES was coming back in February. It was hinted at at the end of of the Genesis In-Depth, and was mentioned more directly in the comments on Patreon. So if it was planned way back in February, why would this come first? I wouldn't have minded this song as a more recent representation if it followed having done YES first. That way Amy would have likely noticed and commented that they reminded her of YES. Oh well, I guess I have to remember the wise words of the prophets (The Rolling Stones) saying "You can't always get what you want". Still waiting on the Stones also.
I emphatically agree with those who are lobbying for going back to the originators of prog. Yes, ELP, Renaissance (for female vocals), Jethro Tull (I would say A Passion Play). The more recent bands are fine, but modern production (compression, etc) really takes quite a bit away from the end result. I love a lot of prog, old and newer, but nothing surpasses the early 70s greats. Amy needs to stay there awhile.
The section where she is longing to recognize Jon and Vangelis is priceless. Now, if not when then?, it' s time to switch to the pioneers of Prog YES with their amazing lead vocalist and composer Jon Anderson. So go to "Close to the edge", "Awaken", "Turn of the century". On none of the 15 Magenta albums you will find something, that would come only close to them. These pioneers where truly adventurous and risky, Magenta is just a nice retro-prog band (with "sweet [sic] harmonies" you name it) like Yes themselves have become in their later years unfortunately. Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, (early) Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant where unique. Each had their own style, sound, substance. The retro-progs, even Spock's Beard, Translantic, often present mostly hodgepodge of what has become prog-cliches. Considering Amy's critic in the end, she is on the right way to find this out on her own. Now she should dare the final step : YES!
For the J&V song, see v=21Qg2wYRmRc :) But yeah, that was cool. And it took until late in the latter song for me to place what Amy had been hearing (I wasn't previously familiar with the song), but then I totally did. Nice that Amy noticed and Vlad placed it!
Here's a partial list of the instruments used: Cello, Timpani, Steinway Piano, electric and acoustic guitars, drums, bass, bass pedals, Moog, Mellotron strings, Bassoon, Tubular Bells, Hammond, Recorders, Marimba, Clavinet, bass guitar and drums, as to the vocal section that you thought might have been keyboard generated it was in fact human voices, an obviously very complicated and time consuming mix. Not a well known progressive group but they provide the same flavor for a band from the 2000's and are one of my favs and the Yes comparisons are spot on.
Yes Glenn Z! Close To The Edge by Yes is the obviously obvious piece that is most obviously obvious for Amy. I’m getting close to the point of showing up in her front yard and blaring it from my car stereo!!!
Tori is such an incredible musician as well. She has the clout to pull in great players to her band. One of my favorites is her ambum of cover songs, where she brought Adrian Belew on board to play guitar and help with musical direction. Some absolutely amazing work on that album. 🤘🧙♂️🤘
I love Tori Amos so much. I considered doing a paid request to Amy to analyze a Tori song. I spent many hours re-listening to songs, sorting, and thinking. The ones that are complicated enough to warrant paying are not rock songs. Almost none of her songs could be classified as rock, except a couple of the most popular ones, which also happen to be compositionally quite simple (though I love them still). I think she is a musical genius, but the one and only song I thought fit the bill of being kind of close to rock and also complicated enough has some lyrics that I think would be too jarring for this channel. Funny that I don't think I've ever heard a Kate Bush song, although I always hear of that comparison. (I wonder if Kate Bush is just a singer, or if she does it all like Tori does.)
Remember, Amy, that the one thing you pointed out as recognizably "progressive" was the wide range of influences. The very definition of "progressive rock (or "prog") is debated - sometimes hotly - among fans: even if one excludes "progressive metal", the range of what is considered progressive is huge - and that is made even more true by the fuzzy border between prog and (jazz) fusion! Prog developed in the late 60s, and has continued since - always developing, and from that wide range of influences, the developments go far afield indeed. From early prog like Gentle Giant to modern prog like eMolecule - one would be hard-pressed to see them as both being "progressive rock" without knowledge of the decades of context - yet both have the underlying identifiers of prog - broad influences (particularly jazz and classical), often complex composition, often a wide range of instruments played (or sometimes synthesized, as in this song - but "progginess points" are awarded for performance on the "real" instruments), uncommon (at least in rock) time signatures or frequent changes in time signature, and a tendency to longer songs (even nearing the point of some shorter classical pieces), and very intentional orchestrations with a great deal of layering. While I like this song (and Magenta in general), I can see your reasons for not putting it in your frequently played songlist - no worries! Remember that Magenta is no more - or less - "prog" than Rush, whose "La Villa Strangiato" got quite the positive reaction from you! Oh, and your excursion into finding the Jon & Vangelis song was fun!
That "openness" that Amy spoke of that she said she likes, that openness is exactly what I credit to The Beatles. Music has always been open in Creative like any art form. But the Beatles are the ones in my opinion that totally broke all of the rules and decided if it helps them Express the emotion or feeling that they are trying to translate to us, then they will use it. My opinion is they are the first ones to completely throw out the rulebook and make it totally about expression.
For classical progressive rock you would enjoy - Renaissance the 1972-1984 version of Renaissance. Annie Haslam has a +5 octave vocal range - Angelic voice.
To me the majority of progressive rock bands of the 90s and 2000s sound like "a light version" of Yes with "a bit of " Rush and Genesis. Maybe that's because of the 80s and bands like Asia who simply blended "catchy" things from the truly progressive rock of the 70s and make it as commercial as possible.
@@johnyarusso4953 Porcupine Tree are very often repeating themselves and their albums sound quite equally, which doesn't mean, that I don't like them. But their is less 'progress' in their history. It was Steven Wilson's right decision to quit the band for many years, to do something fresh.
Like others I had never heard of Magenta up to now. If you told me it was a Yes cover band I would have believed you. It is something I had wondered about up to now. Was Vlad deliberately avoiding Yes for some reason? Great spot Vlad on J&V, it was nagging at me too. As someone who grew up in the 60's - 70's of course I'm biased but pleasantly surprised to find such music still being created today. I shall explore more of their work. I would also agree with Amy in it being slightly mechanical / too processed.
I'd be interested in your reaction to Jethro tull's 'Thick As a Brick' album, though I fear that would be an unwieldy length of video. It's one song that fills both sides of an LP (each side about 22 minutes long) and somehow never gets boring.
And all the progressive rock fans come out... The piece was trying very hard. Sudden switches of time signiture: check. Sudden changes in atmosphere and tone: check. Sudden introduction of unusual instruments: check. The kitchen sink: check. All this does not make a coherent song experience. Amy is quite right in thinking there is something wrong here. It is interesting enough, but very few of us ever heard of this band. Parts reminded me of Gentle Giant, and YES, of course. OK, maybe I am old, but I still admire the innovations of Emerson Lake and Palmer, King Crimson (early), and Tull.
If I may state the obvious, Magenta is *not* the “pinnacle” of progressive rock! (Have many people here even heard of them?) And now that Amy has started the discussion - I do have strong opinions on what precise song *is* the pinnacle of the genre. I know it’s a subjective matter and there are many great and important prog songs -- but CTTE is the one (and the band of course would be Yes). Hope you’ll leave a comment if you agree or disagree. I think CTTE has to be the song of choice when Amy comes around to her first experience with Yes. Some say it’s too long or too ‘out there’ - I disagree - I think it’s squarely in the middle of Amy’s classical wheelhouse, and because of that background she will connect strongly. If you are an attentive viewer, you’ll agree Amy wants, needs to be challenged. (I don’t actually think the song is challenging at all, at least for a musician. It’s melodic and relatable.) “Magenta” it isn’t! Eagerly anticipating this one.
It sometimes seems like the people choosing songs for this channel are messing with her, like they play songs and giggle at what a misleading impression of rock they are giving. People wanted to show that the 2000s had good music, but they meant popular music, not so much a throwback music form to the 70's. They meant bands like Linkin Park, or System of a Down. I have a Magenta CD, but I had to look for prog bands with female singers to even find out they existed.' People also want her to hear more Prog, but they mean the explosive movement in the 70s that centered around Yes, KIng Crimson, ELP, and Genesis. Of them it appears she has only heard Genesis. (Although it comes up in passing that she is familiar with Yes' singer from his work with Vangelis. I am glad she has heard Marillion, and certainly don't mind Magenta. But she is right that Magenta does not have the ambition that those earlier bands hand, bands who aspired to do something on the level of classical music, but in the rock genre. (The first time I heard of Robert Fripp I saw him give an interview in which he largely said that, that he would have been a classical musician, but more interesting stuff was being done in rock). I don't see how one is supposed to make sense of neo-prog without first becoming familiar with prog, and not just Genesis. Even if the idea is to play a prog band with a female singer, Renaissance would be the more natural choice.
Progressive rock would be: Beatles 1966-70, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Soft Machine, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes, Nucleus, Traffic. Jazz fusion was influenced by popular music: Miles Davis 1970-91, Weather Report, Harbie Hancock, Michał Urbaniak, Mahavishnu Orchestra. Violins were used by: Frank Zappa group (Sugar Cane Harris, Jean Luc-Ponty) 1969-73, King Crimson (David Cross) 1973-74, and Polish groups: Skaldowie since 1967, Marek Grechuta group since 1970. Polish progressive groups: Breakout, Skaldowie 1970s, SBB.
Yes, progressive rock is the most intellectual, most artistic subgenre of rock music! Please listen to tons more of the subgenre! Progressive metal too!
This is a quite typical so-called neo-prog of the 2000s. A similar band but American is "Spock's Beard" and the multi-national "Transatlantic". Magenta have also collaborated with Annie Haslam from Renaissance (if you want to hear a full orchestra give a try to their epic "Song of Sheherazade" from Live at Carnegie Hall)
Wasn't familiar with this band but yes, I do think you'll enjoy progressive rock the most, especially from the 70s-80s. Looking forward to you reacting to some Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), particularly "Trilogy," "The Endless Enigma" and "Tarkus"
Another current prog rock band you should listen to is Big Big Train. They bring in brass, violin, etc. They won new prog band of the year. A lot of their songs are about the English countryside and industrial history. I think they are unique. Also suggest, Mostly Autumn, IQ, Porcupine Tree. All British prog bands worth getting into.
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 Suggest you give them a try. Suggest IQ Resistance album to start with. Anything of Big Big Train and Mostly Autumn, but do listen to more than one track. Then there are Pallas, the Blinding Darkness album; Karnataka, Secret of Angels album. British prog is alive and kicking. Happy listening.
Indeed string sounds are important. The idea is to turn a 5 piece band into an orchestra. They used to use frim about '66 to '77 a tape based keyboard that crudely emulated strings. That gave birth to Symphonic Prog Rock. But later better more reliable polyphonic synthesizers were introduced in the Mid 70's but fans of progressive rock missed that crude sound of the Mellotron. Then later with digital sampling you could sample any instrument so it sounds more realistic. There is something about the old Mellotrons but they would need constant turning and maintenance.
“Feels that we are not being driven to a dark place”. But perhaps that could be useful sometimes… Waiting patiently for ‘One of my turns’ from The Wall that will surely take us to a darker, but still pretty interesting, place 😅
Another song that has the part you recognize is by R.EM. the song is Man on the Moon. 🎵 Andy did you hear about this one 🎵 I just went to it to confirm. REM was a band from the 90s. If it isn't the same, then it sure is close. Easily flow into each other
I’ve never heard this song or band, and I don’t dislike it, but it kinda sounds like the music my bank’s customer service line plays when they put me on hold… 😂 (Your call is very important to us; we are currently experiencing heavy call volume. A representative will be with you shortly…)
Yeah, why don't banks use a Prog Rock double album such as Tales from Topographic Oceans. At least we wouldn't then have to listen to the same ditty ad infinitum.
I don't know why they never used the song "Hang on Sloopy" by the MCoys. Maybe they got tired of customers asking "who is Sloopy?" Of course when I get put on hold, they normally disconnect the line after you have been waiting 30 minutes or so.
What a reference, picking up on influence or borrowing from… Jon & Vangelis! Spoken like a veteran prog head! I don’t actually hear that too strongly, but at 8:20 I do hear a strong resemblance to the Yes track “Shock To The System” from the Union album.
Since Amy is doing some prog rock I really hope at some point she will listen to ELO's Concerto for a Rainy Day, too many people only do Mr. Blue Sky and don't even know the other 3 songs of the suite exist.
Recommend you listen and react to the Neal Morse Band "Alive Again" a 26 minute epic modern progressive rock with intro many movements and style changes. The musicians are top nothched with and multi- instrumentalists and Neal is a songwriting genius.
7:04 That's from Jon & Vangelis - I'll Find My Way Home: th-cam.com/video/2oANV6SQhwI/w-d-xo.html But how is it possible that Amy, who's never been exposed to Rock, has heard this song?
Although it may throw in a few odd compound metres, it's not as cohesive as say, Firth of Fifth. I do hope you explore more early Genesis. Pink Floyd, Shine on you Crazy Diamond, all parts is a must. Their last and best full band effort, in my opinion. Probably because they all loved their friend to whom it was dedicated. the former front man who lost his mind due to, perhaps a pre disposition to schizophrenia, compounded by copious consumption of LSD. It's a beautiful tribute. Thanks.
Song suggestion that I think you'll love: Band: Elbow - Song: Starlings. It's an overused word, but this track can rightly be called a 'classic' within their repertoire.
Amy, for prog rock listen to the Italian band Goblin songs "(Profondo Rosso) Deep Red", "Suspiria" or "Tenebrae." I've never heard of Magenta, but this song was very generic. Song choices like this aren't the standard for what I or others would choose to introduce someone to rock. It's like somebody entered "rock" in a random song selector and it lands on the most obscure song nobody has every heard of.
Hello Amy and Vlad. Why don’t you experiment Renaissance, the prog band of the 70’s. Strong classical musicianship with grand orchestra on their powerful and beautiful musics. And the 5 octaves voice of Annie Haslam is stunning 🤩.
Never heard of Magenta. But their synthesizer reminds me of Styx. In fact if you just played me many parts of this song I would have thought it was a Styx song that I've never heard before.
Amy, I love what you do. I will however critize Vlad and others for their choices of "rock" for you to listen to. You were getting the concept that progressive rock incorporates classical instruments. MOST of it doesn't. Vlad and these others are catering to your classical background. If you want to hear typical female rock singers, listen to Heart, or the Pretenders, or the Cranberries, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, Joan Jett, or Patti Smith. Lets hear some more popular groups, mainstay rock and roll. Personally, if I wanted to hear reactions and assessment of classical music I'd go to a channel that featured classical music.
The guitar solo is very reminiscent of Mark Knopfler. In fact it has hooks that could have been taken directly from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Genesis, Rush, Yes. I wouldn't be surprised if an AI won't soon be capable of "composing" something similar if one requested a prog rock song in the style of those artists with a female vocalist!
That was a fun watch, but for me the Prog Rock 'Sound' is kinda old hat. I still like the prog approach to song writing though (eg. Elbow, Mars Volta, Radiohead). Magenta are Very like 'Yes' vocally and sound wise it's got more than a hint of old Marillion (in turn taken from old Genesis) so for me they move a bit to close to Spinal Tap for my liking! But hey - horses for courses.
Some of the guitar is straight from David Gilmore and Pink Floyd's "Division Bell" album. The drums, as well. I'm just wondering, did they return these "borrowed bits"?
Amy, please listen to Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, i think you will find it fascinating, and you won't regret it, Mike Oldfield is his own genre of music, his first 4 albums alone guarantees his legend. Plus, it's the 50th Anniversary of Tubular Bells this month, so an apt time to listen to it.
As a fan of progressive rock, I might be so bold as to suggest that the known "pinnacle" occurred as early as 1973. I'm not saying that's a bad thing or that everything has been static since, but since it was bringing in trained musicians familiar with classical and jazz, they were able to pretty quickly explore the fusion of genres and had established a workable pattern for this fusion that has persisted for about 50 years. The music itself isn't all the same, obviously, but the main stylistic features can probably be dated back to what the top progressive artists had achieved by 1973. This could be seen as analogous to what happened two centuries before. A classical style emerged from, but also incorporated elements from the galant rococo and baroque, and voila, Mozart's 25th Symphony or Haydn's Sturm und Drang works effectively showed the scope and power of the music quite early on, which gradually gained additional refinement, boldness, flourishes, and dramatic expressiveness as string quartets, concerti, and symphonies continued to explore the key ideas that had constituted that period's style. Not all the works in that style had to be huge and dramatic, but the point was that the style could accommodate a full range from fun absolute music through Great Masses, Operas, Symponies, Quartets, and Requiems. Will the current era have its Beethoven, producing a 9th Symphony? Possibly not, but the form is there that can accommodate it in progressive rock. A style in which anything might conceivably be included and, in the right hands, succeed and endure as important. Rather than just sticking with vocal song forms that are historically akin to any number of folk musics... Most persons do not hear orchestral innovations unless they appear in soundtracks for movies or video games, and then are not usually paying big bucks to attend concerts of that music. The orchestra peaked in popularity by the mid-20th Century and the a new period music has been focused on electronic amplification, synthesizers, and sonic production, which has shaped singing, playing, etc. This period of music should produce it's contributions to the canon of art music, and those contributions will not be limited to collections of little songs. The Beatles marked the start of enduring rock music, but history is also likely to recognize, select, and preserve some of the more ambitious art music from our time, as well. That might very well turn out to be Yes.
It was so fun when I guessed the song that was in your mind, I’ll Find My Way Home, by Jon Anderson (Yes) and Vangelis! I have listened to it many times. This band, Magenta, reminds me of early recordings by the band Styx.
I don't think progressive music has progressed very much since the 1970's. There still remains a small progressive scene in the UK, a kind of retrogressive subculture catering for those nostalgics harkening back to their long gone youth, for which bands like Magenta provide a more than adequate soundtrack. The bands are all competent professionals and the music is often very enjoyable, and it's good to see it getting some wider attention. To be honest, it's better to hear something recent than another reaction to Yes or Genesis even though some appreciation of their work is useful, just for the sake of context.
Lots of non-regressive prog bands around past the 70s; try: Deadsoul Tribe, Diablo Swing Orchestra, Elbow, Marbin, Mastodon, The Notwist, Opeth, Paatos, Phideaux, Pure Reason Revolution, Queen, Radiohead, Riverside, Tool, Tribe After Tribe, The Wrong Object.
Your suggestion is a much better choice for modern progressive music, since it isn't simply a clone of the 60s/70s prog bands. I also like "Scardust feat. Patty Gurdy - Concrete Cages", along with several other more recent bands that are not trying to be clones of the older stuff. But for the original progressive rock sound, go for the originals in the 60s/70s, not the clones that show up decades later.
Another band I have no idea about. But Amy, if you are going to "get into more female vocalists", I hope you would do more of a reaction to their vocals. Please consider doing a colab with The Charismatic Voice. And please do more that are well known.
My initial reaction to Magenta's song in this video, was "oh, this is nice." But there was something missing, something organic in the performance. I can't quite put my finger on it. Slightly off-topic, but it would be great t have Amy react to Pat Metheny. I know he's a jazz musician/composer, but he can be a bit unorthodox and his appeal seems to cross over to audiences of many musical genres. Otherwise, bring on Yes and "Heart of the Sunrise" or "Close to the Edge."
How about Hymn from Barclay James Harvest? That's a progressive band and it's orchestral and builds and build until the end. And it is not a noname band and doesn't feel as constructed as this one. Or Fleetwood Mac "You can go your own way". They make some unusual stuff work in that one.
Do you ever find yourself a little frustrated listening to some of this? The people clearly have talent, but it doesn't seem focused well. I really liked the guitar interlude at the 14 minute mark, but it belongs in another song, not this one. The singer sings well and has a pleasant voice, but she sounds young, so there wasn't anything in her voice or in the music that made me think "Lust". I think I would have titled the song, "I'm Confused, Can Anyone Help Me?" As an example of older progressive rock, Kansas "Paradox". The lyrics are about someone questioning themselves. The music and time signatures are busy and unique, but they make sense and serve the song. The 60s/70s era for this genre is definitely the best.
I'd never heard of Margenta and I liked this song. For much better prog rock try Radiohead, Steely Dan, Supertramp, Jethro Tull, Yes, Midnight Oil, REM, Raconteurs, Talking Heads, U2 :)
New progressive bands don’t contribute nothing new. They are filled with musical cliches from the past bands. That’s the reason pioneer progressive music sound fresh now days.
But they are bands that are recording and releasing new music, generally self-financing, and they are bands that you can go and see live, and I think it's good that there is music that can sustain itself outside the mainstream, even if it doesn't add anything to the overall musical legacy. In other words, people learning how to play their instruments to a ight degree and making a living at it is something to be encouraged.
@@Hartlor_Tayley yes, the term ist the problem. Some years ago i had a band of my own, and we also made 15-minutes-songs. I searched for a description and called it "Expressive Art Rock". There were a group in the audience, they were booing before they had heard one single note
Where Amy said…”I’ve heard that before”…..Well I have, but it was in a song by YES, so probably not what Amy is thinking about. Can’t remember the title of the song right now…..senior moment! 🙄😏EDIT: Yes! Jon Anderson! I thought it was Yes, but evident,y Vangelis. Amy has heard that? Wow….I’ll have to look up that reaction.
Considering the amount of Yes influence we hear in this song, I don't think the Jon & Vangelis reference is a coincidence. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't all that good. When you mentioned that you were expecting brass at the point when the synth kicked in, my first thought was that you really need to listen to "25 Or 6 To 4" by Chicago. And Vlad, the "Dilemma" graphic made my day.
Well…..I’ve never heard of this band before. And it’s not bad at all. I’m glad there were new bands doing prog in the 2000’s……but honestly, even though it’s good, it sounds very derivative to me of Yes.
I can hear influences. Yes, ELP, maybe Rush but definitely Genesis. Can't wait for more Genesis on this channel with their 'orchestral sound' and contrasts of dynamics. This tune is interesting, but it seems they are throwing in the kitchen sink. Simply having a hodgepodge of sounds and layers does not make music better; yet Magenta does have nice melodies, motifs, and harmonies. We can hear some development through the various solos. This reminds me somewhat of Neil Peart's 'Time Stand Still'.
I haven't kept up with this band. This feels a lot more like they are trying to find a pop sensibility while trying to prove they're prog by constantly shifting things around. Their first album is a lot of fun, not quite as polished. But, as you pointed out, it's all very NICE. If you want prog that's raw and challenging, really the place to look is Van der Graaf Generator. Maybe "The Undercover Man," or "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers." Or if you're looking for something this century, Cardiacs' "Dirty Boy."
I realise that many preceding comments have said something similar but I can’t help adding being a huge YES fan - Magenta sounds like an unfortunate imitation wannabe of the original band YES.
You picked up Van Gelis, I got references from Yes, Jethro Tull, ELP and Deep Purple. Thank you anyway, for bringing me into a new band (to me) that I already love!
I am hearing more progression on Yes’ new album. This is derivative at best. Nice try. Pleasant but it’s not doing it for me. I’d rather listen to Heart Of The Sunrise or The Ancient by Yes. Much more cohesive compositions.
Can't talk about female fronted prog bands without CURVED AIR...someone please have her react to something from the first four albums. Rob one is great, piece of mind, propositions, Young Mother, Not Quite The Same, Over and Above...Metamorphosis, armin
This was wonderful! Not familiar with the band, but once you mentioned Jon and Vangelis I got So Long Ago, So Clear stuck in my head and will be listening to it once this is over. Such a beautiful collaboration. 🤘🧙♂️🤘 Rich the Ancient Metal Beast
Well placed final comments, Amy. I don't know this band or piece of music but it is certainly progressive, this album fits right in the middle of one's Yes and Emmerson, Lake & Palmer records. True to form for the intense classical progressive rock, it is way too long, it fruit noodles all over the place with no real direction, just everything and the kitchen sink thrown at a song, it suffers from "trying too hard-ites". But I have to say, her voice is lovely, I'd like to hear more and I love the tone of that double humbucker Gibson, yes, I liked the guitar work although he/she/it threw about 5 different guitar styles into one song. If Amy is a little taken back by the use of too much synthesizer, fakeness, then maybe now is not the best time to throw Vangelis at her...just a thought. Although I think that Amy might like some of Vangelis's music. If she wants to hear some classical, real instruments in modern, rock-ish music with a far nor more song construction that one can follow might she like a few songs by the David Mathew's Band? I still liked this video though and being introduced myself to Magenta.
Hello Amy n Vlad,, to mmy ears this piece, this band is trying very hard to sound like YES.. certain sections are quite similar in the sound/arrangement and overall vibe of it,, other parts sound a bit simpler and more mainstream,, this song is all over the place.
This song always sounds to me like really immersive game ost. Some early divinities may be? And I guess it's too long and repetitive for prog. Like one listening feels like twice or thrice listening.
Interesting exploration of ONE of Magenta's tracks. Yes some likenesses to 'Yes' and 'VanGelis.' I guess all bands have threads of other stuff running through them. As a big Magenta fan although this is a good track I dont think it shows them off to the max. Thats the trouble with these critiques singling out a snippet of a bands whole catalogue. They are very well known in the UK to those who venture out of the 70's and 80's prog scene and regularly do the current prog festivals . Magenta are very much now and regularly tour at home and in Europe. Christina Booths vocals are excellent and this track does not show them off to the max imho like some of their other tracks. She has won classic rock society vocalist of the year 4 times. Anyone interested for contrast might like this excellent track released I think in 2020 th-cam.com/video/Y6USrkjBCCM/w-d-xo.html
Like others here, I've never heard of (or heard) Magenta before now. It's a strange band to introduce Amy to as representative of anything. If we're introducing someone to a new genre of music, it makes most sense to me to introduce those bands that have or had big hits and many hits. I didn't dislike it at all, but it's a very strange choice in my opinion.
Agree party but I guess it depends on what you consider to be progressive rock. If you include bands like Opeth and Gojira (which fits all criteria for progressive rock) then I would say that it has progressed quite a bit. But if you only consider bands that sounds just like Yes and Genesis then it hasn’t, by default, progressed many millimetres…
@@peterliljeholmen5703 I agree with you and I guess it’s a tale of two progressive rocks one is actually progressive in a sense of new and innovative and the other is basically imitating what was considered progressive in English art rock of the seventies.
I've never heard of this. It sounds like a mix of Tina Guo, Goblin, ELP and contemporary country rock. You can't please everyone. There's no point trying, I suppose.
Well you have listened to much better progressive rock than this, Firth of fifth by Genesis, which you liked. And also 2 or 3 other song that fall under different kind of progressive rock, but I don't know in which order these videos are shown. I have never heard of this band. I did not find the music interesting. Also not the vocal parts. I did find it rather dull, the same feeling I got with Nightwish, easy listening, yes, but rather uninspiring.
Your self destructing. Your timeline is wrong and you need to correct course quickly. The songs need to appeal to her musical intellect . Your losing the viewers and Amy will lose interest eventually. Lets turn this around with some Meatloaf.
Not my cup of tea. A lot of stuff thrown together does not make it good music. The production is really not my thing. It misses life, it sounds artificial and overly compressed. The timbre feels off. What was the idea of this listen? Let her make a historical base first, why let her listen to middle of the road easy listening music?
CHANNEL OWNERS: PLEASE READ! The best period of so-called Prog Rock was in the late 60's and through the 70's. Bands like Procol Harum, King Crimson, ELP, Yes, Gentle Giant, Van Der Graaf Generator, Focus and Genesis (with PG) truly created new things . From then on, only imitations appeared. For example, American bands were a total disaster. They just took advantage of the grandiose aspect and delivered meaningless sound masses. Others, like the one we're listening to now, are composed by good musicians but just add cliché after cliché. An atrocious lack of originality, especially for those who know the originals. Probably this guy, Vlad, just seems to know "the detritus" and ignore what gave rise to them. Not wanting to sound arrogant, I have to say that he has very little knowledge and that he advises Amy very badly. Where are songs like any of the first King Crimson album? Where is "A Salty Dog" by Procol Harum? Why not "Echoes" by Pink Floyd or the song that gives the title to the album Atom Heart Mother, where the functions of the orchestra and the band are completely changed, something I never saw happen again? Where is "Super's Ready" by Genesis, "Tarkus" by ELP or any song from "Close to the Edge" by Yes? On the other hand, I don't know if it's Vlad or Amy who manage the channel, but with the quality of her comments and her friendliness, by now it should have many more subscribers than 80k. Everything seems to be done without much knowledge of how TH-cam works. An example? The tags are poor. Really, really poor! Make use of the free version of TubeBuddy and you will see the difference. I am unemployed and cannot be a patron, but it saddens me deeply that Amy's talent is wasted like this.
PS - I debated whether or not I should like this video. Amy's comments notwithstanding, in conscience I can't say that I liked the video. After all, the main thing is music, right?
![LAVROV's interview with Tucker CARLSON 😁 [Parody]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mbMemqc-QEk/mqdefault.jpg)
![Magenta - Sloth [Live At The Point]](/img/n.gif)
Magenta, Lust had some pleasing aspects within the music. Amy planted the question of whether it might be the pinnacle of prog rock. As comparisons were made to the prog rock group YES, it would be a very interesting to see Amy's reaction to Close to the Edge. For me the 70s was the pinnacle due to the musicianship and not the 20th century, where, to my ears at least, technology plays a bigger role. For the best audio, obviously the studio version of Close to the Edge is the most appropriate comparison, but there is the live version on youtube from the Rainbow Theatre in London 1972, which is very entertaining even down to the stage effects albeit rather lo-fi for today's standards.
While I really enjoyed this piece, many of us will point out that you should be listening to the 60s/70s pioneers and masters of progressive rock first, such as YES, who this band sounds a bit like at times. In fact you noticed the similarities to Jon and Vangelis (good job Vlad) which features Jon Anderson, the lead singer of YES. On the other hand, I do think it is appropriate to look at music from 2000 to the present day, since we were unfair to the recent decades in the rock history episode, by not emphasizing enough that there is still good music being produced, just not as much in today's mainstream. But in general, I think your exposure and reaction order should start with the influencer rather than the influenced.
It begs the question: can music that is derivative and retrospective be called progressive ? I would say no. A band like The Battles from around 2010 or so are progressive. This is Magenta track is actually traditional to me. Nothing wrong with traditional styles, I love traditional styles. I think being progressive for the sake of being progressive isn’t interesting to me.
I always support voices for YES. I can't understand why we haven't heard about Yes on this channel... such an important band...
@@PeterBuwen one of the best bands of the era and they were actually progressive at least for several years.
@@Hartlor_Tayley What you are saying makes a lot of sense and I agree with your sentiment. But you probably know me well enough by now to have heard my speech on the problems with labels, since we all have our own interpretations on what they mean. Of course I just end up looking like a hypocrite since I use these labels all the time myself.😉 Besides, it then takes all the fun out of debating these labels in chat.
@@PeterBuwen I don't understand either, particularly since we were promised YES was coming back in February. It was hinted at at the end of of the Genesis In-Depth, and was mentioned more directly in the comments on Patreon. So if it was planned way back in February, why would this come first? I wouldn't have minded this song as a more recent representation if it followed having done YES first. That way Amy would have likely noticed and commented that they reminded her of YES. Oh well, I guess I have to remember the wise words of the prophets (The Rolling Stones) saying "You can't always get what you want". Still waiting on the Stones also.
I emphatically agree with those who are lobbying for going back to the originators of prog. Yes, ELP, Renaissance (for female vocals), Jethro Tull (I would say A Passion Play). The more recent bands are fine, but modern production (compression, etc) really takes quite a bit away from the end result. I love a lot of prog, old and newer, but nothing surpasses the early 70s greats. Amy needs to stay there awhile.
The section where she is longing to recognize Jon and Vangelis is priceless. Now, if not when then?, it' s time to switch to the pioneers of Prog YES with their amazing lead vocalist and composer Jon Anderson. So go to "Close to the edge", "Awaken", "Turn of the century". On none of the 15 Magenta albums you will find something, that would come only close to them. These pioneers where truly adventurous and risky, Magenta is just a nice retro-prog band (with "sweet [sic] harmonies" you name it) like Yes themselves have become in their later years unfortunately. Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, (early) Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant where unique. Each had their own style, sound, substance. The retro-progs, even Spock's Beard, Translantic, often present mostly hodgepodge of what has become prog-cliches. Considering Amy's critic in the end, she is on the right way to find this out on her own. Now she should dare the final step : YES!
For the J&V song, see v=21Qg2wYRmRc :)
But yeah, that was cool. And it took until late in the latter song for me to place what Amy had been hearing (I wasn't previously familiar with the song), but then I totally did. Nice that Amy noticed and Vlad placed it!
Also, YES to Yes! :)
Here's a partial list of the instruments used: Cello, Timpani, Steinway Piano, electric and acoustic guitars, drums, bass, bass pedals, Moog, Mellotron strings, Bassoon, Tubular Bells, Hammond, Recorders, Marimba, Clavinet, bass guitar and drums, as to the vocal section that you thought might have been keyboard generated it was in fact human voices, an obviously very complicated and time consuming mix. Not a well known progressive group but they provide the same flavor for a band from the 2000's and are one of my favs and the Yes comparisons are spot on.
Yes Glenn Z! Close To The Edge by Yes is the obviously obvious piece that is most obviously obvious for Amy. I’m getting close to the point of showing up in her front yard and blaring it from my car stereo!!!
@marc blachmann 📢📣🎵🎶🎼. 😂
Another female singer you should check out is Tori Amos, who gets compared to Kate Bush a lot. She is also an outstanding pianist.
Tori is such an incredible musician as well. She has the clout to pull in great players to her band. One of my favorites is her ambum of cover songs, where she brought Adrian Belew on board to play guitar and help with musical direction. Some absolutely amazing work on that album.
🤘🧙♂️🤘
I love Tori Amos so much. I considered doing a paid request to Amy to analyze a Tori song. I spent many hours re-listening to songs, sorting, and thinking. The ones that are complicated enough to warrant paying are not rock songs. Almost none of her songs could be classified as rock, except a couple of the most popular ones, which also happen to be compositionally quite simple (though I love them still). I think she is a musical genius, but the one and only song I thought fit the bill of being kind of close to rock and also complicated enough has some lyrics that I think would be too jarring for this channel. Funny that I don't think I've ever heard a Kate Bush song, although I always hear of that comparison. (I wonder if Kate Bush is just a singer, or if she does it all like Tori does.)
that would have been a good nineties artist .
as a side note off the Kate Bush tangent, I bet _Don't Give Up_ would be an interesting one to watch Amy respond to.
@@DavidLindes Is Kate Bush music rock?
Basically, Amy's review of this song is similar to her review of Nightwish. And she's right.
Niece piece of music. I liked it. Never heard before of Magenta. Maybe it's worth looking for more.
Magenta are a great band, I don’t think you’d be disappointed from looking at more of their music!
Remember, Amy, that the one thing you pointed out as recognizably "progressive" was the wide range of influences. The very definition of "progressive rock (or "prog") is debated - sometimes hotly - among fans: even if one excludes "progressive metal", the range of what is considered progressive is huge - and that is made even more true by the fuzzy border between prog and (jazz) fusion!
Prog developed in the late 60s, and has continued since - always developing, and from that wide range of influences, the developments go far afield indeed. From early prog like Gentle Giant to modern prog like eMolecule - one would be hard-pressed to see them as both being "progressive rock" without knowledge of the decades of context - yet both have the underlying identifiers of prog - broad influences (particularly jazz and classical), often complex composition, often a wide range of instruments played (or sometimes synthesized, as in this song - but "progginess points" are awarded for performance on the "real" instruments), uncommon (at least in rock) time signatures or frequent changes in time signature, and a tendency to longer songs (even nearing the point of some shorter classical pieces), and very intentional orchestrations with a great deal of layering.
While I like this song (and Magenta in general), I can see your reasons for not putting it in your frequently played songlist - no worries! Remember that Magenta is no more - or less - "prog" than Rush, whose "La Villa Strangiato" got quite the positive reaction from you!
Oh, and your excursion into finding the Jon & Vangelis song was fun!
That "openness" that Amy spoke of that she said she likes, that openness is exactly what I credit to The Beatles.
Music has always been open in Creative like any art form.
But the Beatles are the ones in my opinion that totally broke all of the rules and decided if it helps them Express the emotion or feeling that they are trying to translate to us, then they will use it.
My opinion is they are the first ones to completely throw out the rulebook and make it totally about expression.
It’s pretty good. Well performed. Samplers and quantized rhythms flatten this out for me. Great commentary by Amy and a fun video, thanks VR
For classical progressive rock you would enjoy - Renaissance the 1972-1984 version of Renaissance. Annie Haslam has a +5 octave vocal range - Angelic voice.
To me the majority of progressive rock bands of the 90s and 2000s sound like "a light version" of Yes with "a bit of " Rush and Genesis. Maybe that's because of the 80s and bands like Asia who simply blended "catchy" things from the truly progressive rock of the 70s and make it as commercial as possible.
Check out Closure/continuation by Porcupine Tree from 2022.
@@johnyarusso4953 Porcupine Tree are very often repeating themselves and their albums sound quite equally, which doesn't mean, that I don't like them. But their is less 'progress' in their history. It was Steven Wilson's right decision to quit the band for many years, to do something fresh.
@@johnyarusso4953 thanks, I would rather listen to Tool
Like others I had never heard of Magenta up to now. If you told me it was a Yes cover band I would have believed you. It is something I had wondered about up to now. Was Vlad deliberately avoiding Yes for some reason? Great spot Vlad on J&V, it was nagging at me too. As someone who grew up in the 60's - 70's of course I'm biased but pleasantly surprised to find such music still being created today. I shall explore more of their work. I would also agree with Amy in it being slightly mechanical / too processed.
I'd be interested in your reaction to Jethro tull's 'Thick As a Brick' album, though I fear that would be an unwieldy length of video. It's one song that fills both sides of an LP (each side about 22 minutes long) and somehow never gets boring.
I dont know if you've checked out Close to the edge by Yes.. that would be an excellent episode.
And all the progressive rock fans come out... The piece was trying very hard. Sudden switches of time signiture: check. Sudden changes in atmosphere and tone: check. Sudden introduction of unusual instruments: check. The kitchen sink: check. All this does not make a coherent song experience. Amy is quite right in thinking there is something wrong here. It is interesting enough, but very few of us ever heard of this band. Parts reminded me of Gentle Giant, and YES, of course. OK, maybe I am old, but I still admire the innovations of Emerson Lake and Palmer, King Crimson (early), and Tull.
If I may state the obvious, Magenta is *not* the “pinnacle” of progressive rock! (Have many people here even heard of them?) And now that Amy has started the discussion - I do have strong opinions on what precise song *is* the pinnacle of the genre. I know it’s a subjective matter and there are many great and important prog songs -- but CTTE is the one (and the band of course would be Yes). Hope you’ll leave a comment if you agree or disagree.
I think CTTE has to be the song of choice when Amy comes around to her first experience with Yes. Some say it’s too long or too ‘out there’ - I disagree - I think it’s squarely in the middle of Amy’s classical wheelhouse, and because of that background she will connect strongly. If you are an attentive viewer, you’ll agree Amy wants, needs to be challenged. (I don’t actually think the song is challenging at all, at least for a musician. It’s melodic and relatable.) “Magenta” it isn’t! Eagerly anticipating this one.
Too long ahhahah,people dont know that every 18 minutes of CTTE are pure beauty
Close to the Edge should be mandatory listening for Amy LOL. It seems like a lot of folks are lobbying for it.
It sometimes seems like the people choosing songs for this channel are messing with her, like they play songs and giggle at what a misleading impression of rock they are giving. People wanted to show that the 2000s had good music, but they meant popular music, not so much a throwback music form to the 70's. They meant bands like Linkin Park, or System of a Down. I have a Magenta CD, but I had to look for prog bands with female singers to even find out they existed.'
People also want her to hear more Prog, but they mean the explosive movement in the 70s that centered around Yes, KIng Crimson, ELP, and Genesis. Of them it appears she has only heard Genesis. (Although it comes up in passing that she is familiar with Yes' singer from his work with Vangelis.
I am glad she has heard Marillion, and certainly don't mind Magenta. But she is right that Magenta does not have the ambition that those earlier bands hand, bands who aspired to do something on the level of classical music, but in the rock genre. (The first time I heard of Robert Fripp I saw him give an interview in which he largely said that, that he would have been a classical musician, but more interesting stuff was being done in rock). I don't see how one is supposed to make sense of neo-prog without first becoming familiar with prog, and not just Genesis.
Even if the idea is to play a prog band with a female singer, Renaissance would be the more natural choice.
Progressive rock would be: Beatles 1966-70, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Soft Machine, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes, Nucleus, Traffic. Jazz fusion was influenced by popular music: Miles Davis 1970-91, Weather Report, Harbie Hancock, Michał Urbaniak, Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Violins were used by: Frank Zappa group (Sugar Cane Harris, Jean Luc-Ponty) 1969-73, King Crimson (David Cross) 1973-74, and Polish groups: Skaldowie since 1967, Marek Grechuta group since 1970. Polish progressive groups: Breakout, Skaldowie 1970s, SBB.
Renaissance, it's prog with a gorgeous female voice (shivers down my spine now!)
Agreed. Either Turn of the Cards or Scheherazade are classic.
Yes, progressive rock is the most intellectual, most artistic subgenre of rock music! Please listen to tons more of the subgenre! Progressive metal too!
This is a quite typical so-called neo-prog of the 2000s. A similar band but American is "Spock's Beard" and the multi-national "Transatlantic". Magenta have also collaborated with Annie Haslam from Renaissance (if you want to hear a full orchestra give a try to their epic "Song of Sheherazade" from Live at Carnegie Hall)
Great suggestion. The perfect blend of strong classical musicianship in a beautiful prog song. And the five octaves voice of Annie Haslam 🤩.
Flower Kings also come to mind.
Wasn't familiar with this band but yes, I do think you'll enjoy progressive rock the most, especially from the 70s-80s. Looking forward to you reacting to some Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), particularly "Trilogy," "The Endless Enigma" and "Tarkus"
Another current prog rock band you should listen to is Big Big Train. They bring in brass, violin, etc. They won new prog band of the year. A lot of their songs are about the English countryside and industrial history. I think they are unique. Also suggest, Mostly Autumn, IQ, Porcupine Tree. All British prog bands worth getting into.
I'd second BBT for an analysis.
Like PT……others never heard of before. Must of not made it much over this side of the pond.
@@w.geoffreyspaulding6588 Suggest you give them a try. Suggest IQ Resistance album to start with. Anything of Big Big Train and Mostly Autumn, but do listen to more than one track. Then there are Pallas, the Blinding Darkness album; Karnataka, Secret of Angels album. British prog is alive and kicking. Happy listening.
Yes Big big train are awesome
Indeed string sounds are important. The idea is to turn a 5 piece band into an orchestra. They used to use frim about '66 to '77 a tape based keyboard that crudely emulated strings. That gave birth to Symphonic Prog Rock. But later better more reliable polyphonic synthesizers were introduced in the Mid 70's but fans of progressive rock missed that crude sound of the Mellotron. Then later with digital sampling you could sample any instrument so it sounds more realistic. There is something about the old Mellotrons but they would need constant turning and maintenance.
“Feels that we are not being driven to a dark place”. But perhaps that could be useful sometimes… Waiting patiently for ‘One of my turns’ from The Wall that will surely take us to a darker, but still pretty interesting, place 😅
Another song that has the part you recognize is by R.EM. the song is Man on the Moon.
🎵 Andy did you hear about this one 🎵
I just went to it to confirm. REM was a band from the 90s.
If it isn't the same, then it sure is close. Easily flow into each other
I’ve never heard this song or band, and I don’t dislike it, but it kinda sounds like the music my bank’s customer service line plays when they put me on hold… 😂 (Your call is very important to us; we are currently experiencing heavy call volume. A representative will be with you shortly…)
I like the IRS for hold music the best.
Yeah, why don't banks use a Prog Rock double album such as Tales from Topographic Oceans. At least we wouldn't then have to listen to the same ditty ad infinitum.
@@upness imagine releasing a new album and the only way people can hear it is by being on hold.
I don't know why they never used the song "Hang on Sloopy" by the MCoys. Maybe they got tired of customers asking "who is Sloopy?" Of course when I get put on hold, they normally disconnect the line after you have been waiting 30 minutes or so.
@@LeeKennison if my call is important to them why did they hang up ?
What a reference, picking up on influence or borrowing from… Jon & Vangelis! Spoken like a veteran prog head!
I don’t actually hear that too strongly, but at 8:20 I do hear a strong resemblance to the Yes track “Shock To The System” from the Union album.
Since Amy is doing some prog rock I really hope at some point she will listen to ELO's Concerto for a Rainy Day, too many people only do Mr. Blue Sky and don't even know the other 3 songs of the suite exist.
Recommend you listen and react to the Neal Morse Band "Alive Again" a 26 minute epic modern progressive rock with intro many movements and style changes. The musicians are top nothched with and multi- instrumentalists and Neal is a songwriting genius.
7:04 That's from Jon & Vangelis - I'll Find My Way Home: th-cam.com/video/2oANV6SQhwI/w-d-xo.html
But how is it possible that Amy, who's never been exposed to Rock, has heard this song?
Believe it or not, sometimes Amy goes out for groceries :)
I should shop where you shop!
Although it may throw in a few odd compound metres, it's not as cohesive as say, Firth of Fifth. I do hope you explore more early Genesis. Pink Floyd, Shine on you Crazy Diamond, all parts is a must. Their last and best full band effort, in my opinion. Probably because they all loved their friend to whom it was dedicated. the former front man who lost his mind due to, perhaps a pre disposition to schizophrenia, compounded by copious consumption of LSD. It's a beautiful tribute. Thanks.
Song suggestion that I think you'll love: Band: Elbow - Song: Starlings. It's an overused word, but this track can rightly be called a 'classic' within their repertoire.
Amy, for prog rock listen to the Italian band Goblin songs "(Profondo Rosso) Deep Red", "Suspiria" or "Tenebrae."
I've never heard of Magenta, but this song was very generic. Song choices like this aren't the standard for what I or others would choose to introduce someone to rock. It's like somebody entered "rock" in a random song selector and it lands on the most obscure song nobody has every heard of.
Catchy little motifs in search of a song might be the definition of progressive rock.
You are not wrong
@@podrunner743 Not familiar with them.
@@delorangeade Bach Manturner over Drive ?
Hello Amy and Vlad. Why don’t you experiment Renaissance, the prog band of the 70’s. Strong classical musicianship with grand orchestra on their powerful and beautiful musics. And the 5 octaves voice of Annie Haslam is stunning 🤩.
This might have had more juice if the dynamics had not been squashed away.
Stale !
You've found the precise word!
Never heard of Magenta. But their synthesizer reminds me of Styx. In fact if you just played me many parts of this song I would have thought it was a Styx song that I've never heard before.
The actual synth arpeggio is just lifted from some 70s song. Is it Styx?
Another band that comes to my mind is marillion
Amy, I love what you do. I will however critize Vlad and others for their choices of "rock" for you to listen to. You were getting the concept that progressive rock incorporates classical instruments. MOST of it doesn't. Vlad and these others are catering to your classical background. If you want to hear typical female rock singers, listen to Heart, or the Pretenders, or the Cranberries, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, Joan Jett, or Patti Smith. Lets hear some more popular groups, mainstay rock and roll. Personally, if I wanted to hear reactions and assessment of classical music I'd go to a channel that featured classical music.
The guitar solo is very reminiscent of Mark Knopfler. In fact it has hooks that could have been taken directly from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Genesis, Rush, Yes. I wouldn't be surprised if an AI won't soon be capable of "composing" something similar if one requested a prog rock song in the style of those artists with a female vocalist!
That was a fun watch, but for me the Prog Rock 'Sound' is kinda old hat. I still like the prog approach to song writing though (eg. Elbow, Mars Volta, Radiohead). Magenta are Very like 'Yes' vocally and sound wise it's got more than a hint of old Marillion (in turn taken from old Genesis) so for me they move a bit to close to Spinal Tap for my liking! But hey - horses for courses.
Amy you haven't reacted to anything by Jon (Anderson) & Vangellis before on this channel, have you? I wonder where you first heard them?
Me too...
I'm still waiting for a Grateful Dead exploration...
The singer reminds me of Dolly Parton. Amy should check out Mike Oldfield. Moonlight Shadow and Tubular Bells.
Some of the guitar is straight from David Gilmore and Pink Floyd's "Division Bell" album. The drums, as well. I'm just wondering, did they return these "borrowed bits"?
May I suggest some Dixie Dregs, the song Odyssey. Really progressive. Amazing band.
Amy, please listen to Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, i think you will find it fascinating, and you won't regret it, Mike Oldfield is his own genre of music, his first 4 albums alone guarantees his legend. Plus, it's the 50th Anniversary of Tubular Bells this month, so an apt time to listen to it.
As a fan of progressive rock, I might be so bold as to suggest that the known "pinnacle" occurred as early as 1973. I'm not saying that's a bad thing or that everything has been static since, but since it was bringing in trained musicians familiar with classical and jazz, they were able to pretty quickly explore the fusion of genres and had established a workable pattern for this fusion that has persisted for about 50 years. The music itself isn't all the same, obviously, but the main stylistic features can probably be dated back to what the top progressive artists had achieved by 1973. This could be seen as analogous to what happened two centuries before. A classical style emerged from, but also incorporated elements from the galant rococo and baroque, and voila, Mozart's 25th Symphony or Haydn's Sturm und Drang works effectively showed the scope and power of the music quite early on, which gradually gained additional refinement, boldness, flourishes, and dramatic expressiveness as string quartets, concerti, and symphonies continued to explore the key ideas that had constituted that period's style. Not all the works in that style had to be huge and dramatic, but the point was that the style could accommodate a full range from fun absolute music through Great Masses, Operas, Symponies, Quartets, and Requiems. Will the current era have its Beethoven, producing a 9th Symphony? Possibly not, but the form is there that can accommodate it in progressive rock. A style in which anything might conceivably be included and, in the right hands, succeed and endure as important. Rather than just sticking with vocal song forms that are historically akin to any number of folk musics... Most persons do not hear orchestral innovations unless they appear in soundtracks for movies or video games, and then are not usually paying big bucks to attend concerts of that music. The orchestra peaked in popularity by the mid-20th Century and the a new period music has been focused on electronic amplification, synthesizers, and sonic production, which has shaped singing, playing, etc. This period of music should produce it's contributions to the canon of art music, and those contributions will not be limited to collections of little songs. The Beatles marked the start of enduring rock music, but history is also likely to recognize, select, and preserve some of the more ambitious art music from our time, as well. That might very well turn out to be Yes.
It was so fun when I guessed the song that was in your mind, I’ll Find My Way Home, by Jon Anderson (Yes) and Vangelis! I have listened to it many times.
This band, Magenta, reminds me of early recordings by the band Styx.
And hints of Kansas.
Well, let Amy hear these ones first. She'll enjoy classic prog rock even more. And yes, many of us are waiting for Yes!
I don't think progressive music has progressed very much since the 1970's. There still remains a small progressive scene in the UK, a kind of retrogressive subculture catering for those nostalgics harkening back to their long gone youth, for which bands like Magenta provide a more than adequate soundtrack. The bands are all competent professionals and the music is often very enjoyable, and it's good to see it getting some wider attention. To be honest, it's better to hear something recent than another reaction to Yes or Genesis even though some appreciation of their work is useful, just for the sake of context.
"for which bands like Magenta provide a more than adequate soundtrack" - how incredibly patronising.
Lots of non-regressive prog bands around past the 70s; try: Deadsoul Tribe, Diablo Swing Orchestra, Elbow, Marbin, Mastodon, The Notwist, Opeth, Paatos, Phideaux, Pure Reason Revolution, Queen, Radiohead, Riverside, Tool, Tribe After Tribe, The Wrong Object.
Perhaps Retro-Progressive should be a genre in its own right?
I suggest another prog-rock/prog-metal Ayreon - The Day That The World Breaks Down
Your suggestion is a much better choice for modern progressive music, since it isn't simply a clone of the 60s/70s prog bands. I also like "Scardust feat. Patty Gurdy - Concrete Cages", along with several other more recent bands that are not trying to be clones of the older stuff. But for the original progressive rock sound, go for the originals in the 60s/70s, not the clones that show up decades later.
Another band I have no idea about. But Amy, if you are going to "get into more female vocalists", I hope you would do more of a reaction to their vocals. Please consider doing a colab with The Charismatic Voice. And please do more that are well known.
My initial reaction to Magenta's song in this video, was "oh, this is nice." But there was something missing, something organic in the performance. I can't quite put my finger on it. Slightly off-topic, but it would be great t have Amy react to Pat Metheny. I know he's a jazz musician/composer, but he can be a bit unorthodox and his appeal seems to cross over to audiences of many musical genres. Otherwise, bring on Yes and "Heart of the Sunrise" or "Close to the Edge."
She's wont do jazz
How about Hymn from Barclay James Harvest? That's a progressive band and it's orchestral and builds and build until the end. And it is not a noname band and doesn't feel as constructed as this one. Or Fleetwood Mac "You can go your own way". They make some unusual stuff work in that one.
I thought it had traces of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.
But Amy, as far as I can find, has not yet reacted to any Yes, much less Jon Anderson and Vangelis. Has she heard that piece outside the channel?
Do you ever find yourself a little frustrated listening to some of this? The people clearly have talent, but it doesn't seem focused well. I really liked the guitar interlude at the 14 minute mark, but it belongs in another song, not this one. The singer sings well and has a pleasant voice, but she sounds young, so there wasn't anything in her voice or in the music that made me think "Lust". I think I would have titled the song, "I'm Confused, Can Anyone Help Me?"
As an example of older progressive rock, Kansas "Paradox". The lyrics are about someone questioning themselves. The music and time signatures are busy and unique, but they make sense and serve the song. The 60s/70s era for this genre is definitely the best.
Christina Booth was 39 at the time of recording, she's now 58.
I'd never heard of Margenta and I liked this song. For much better prog rock try Radiohead, Steely Dan, Supertramp, Jethro Tull, Yes, Midnight Oil, REM, Raconteurs, Talking Heads, U2 :)
Steely Dan, absolutely! I think it would be cool to her react to the tite track of Aja.
New progressive bands don’t contribute nothing new. They are filled with musical cliches from the past bands. That’s the reason pioneer progressive music sound fresh now days.
Exactly.
This even applies equally to Transatlantic, although they do it on the highest Level.
But they are bands that are recording and releasing new music, generally self-financing, and they are bands that you can go and see live, and I think it's good that there is music that can sustain itself outside the mainstream, even if it doesn't add anything to the overall musical legacy. In other words, people learning how to play their instruments to a ight degree and making a living at it is something to be encouraged.
@@delorangeade I agree 100% Play whatever you want to play. I think it’s term “progressive” that people are tripping over.
@@Hartlor_Tayley yes, the term ist the problem. Some years ago i had a band of my own, and we also made 15-minutes-songs. I searched for a description and called it "Expressive Art Rock". There were a group in the audience, they were booing before they had heard one single note
Where Amy said…”I’ve heard that before”…..Well I have, but it was in a song by YES, so probably not what Amy is thinking about. Can’t remember the title of the song right now…..senior moment! 🙄😏EDIT: Yes! Jon Anderson! I thought it was Yes, but evident,y Vangelis. Amy has heard that? Wow….I’ll have to look up that reaction.
Need some Mr. Bungle or Mike Patton Mondo Cane .
Considering the amount of Yes influence we hear in this song, I don't think the Jon & Vangelis reference is a coincidence. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't all that good. When you mentioned that you were expecting brass at the point when the synth kicked in, my first thought was that you really need to listen to "25 Or 6 To 4" by Chicago. And Vlad, the "Dilemma" graphic made my day.
never heard of this band, yet it is obvious that they were influenced by Steve Miller and Styx. Thx!
Well…..I’ve never heard of this band before. And it’s not bad at all. I’m glad there were new bands doing prog in the 2000’s……but honestly, even though it’s good, it sounds very derivative to me of Yes.
Yeah, I've lifted riffs from Vangelis.
🤘🧙♂️🤘
Rich tAMB
I can hear influences. Yes, ELP, maybe Rush but definitely Genesis. Can't wait for more Genesis on this channel with their 'orchestral sound' and contrasts of dynamics. This tune is interesting, but it seems they are throwing in the kitchen sink. Simply having a hodgepodge of sounds and layers does not make music better; yet Magenta does have nice melodies, motifs, and harmonies. We can hear some development through the various solos. This reminds me somewhat of Neil Peart's 'Time Stand Still'.
I haven't kept up with this band. This feels a lot more like they are trying to find a pop sensibility while trying to prove they're prog by constantly shifting things around. Their first album is a lot of fun, not quite as polished. But, as you pointed out, it's all very NICE.
If you want prog that's raw and challenging, really the place to look is Van der Graaf Generator. Maybe "The Undercover Man," or "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers." Or if you're looking for something this century, Cardiacs' "Dirty Boy."
I realise that many preceding comments have said something similar but I can’t help adding being a huge YES fan - Magenta sounds like an unfortunate imitation wannabe of the original band YES.
It also reminded me of Starcastle. Remember them?
You picked up Van Gelis, I got references from Yes, Jethro Tull, ELP and Deep Purple. Thank you anyway, for bringing me into a new band (to me) that I already love!
soft machine . if you like progressive 70's rock .
@@drfunkology8164 Yep, love them too.
Also, there's some U2 in there.
I am hearing more progression on Yes’ new album. This is derivative at best. Nice try. Pleasant but it’s not doing it for me.
I’d rather listen to Heart Of The Sunrise or The Ancient by Yes. Much more cohesive compositions.
Can't talk about female fronted prog bands without CURVED AIR...someone please have her react to something from the first four albums. Rob one is great, piece of mind, propositions, Young Mother, Not Quite The Same, Over and Above...Metamorphosis, armin
Maybe try “Ebbtide” by Earth and Fire.
@@Hartlor_Tayley Earth and Fire is a other good one
@@Skylardonavanstar and Renaissance, I can’t think of any more, maybe Statis Quo
This was wonderful! Not familiar with the band, but once you mentioned Jon and Vangelis I got So Long Ago, So Clear stuck in my head and will be listening to it once this is over. Such a beautiful collaboration.
🤘🧙♂️🤘
Rich the Ancient Metal Beast
Well placed final comments, Amy.
I don't know this band or piece of music but it is certainly progressive, this album fits right in the middle of one's Yes and Emmerson, Lake & Palmer records. True to form for the intense classical progressive rock, it is way too long, it fruit noodles all over the place with no real direction, just everything and the kitchen sink thrown at a song, it suffers from "trying too hard-ites". But I have to say, her voice is lovely, I'd like to hear more and I love the tone of that double humbucker Gibson, yes, I liked the guitar work although he/she/it threw about 5 different guitar styles into one song.
If Amy is a little taken back by the use of too much synthesizer, fakeness, then maybe now is not the best time to throw Vangelis at her...just a thought. Although I think that Amy might like some of Vangelis's music. If she wants to hear some classical, real instruments in modern, rock-ish music with a far nor more song construction that one can follow might she like a few songs by the David Mathew's Band?
I still liked this video though and being introduced myself to Magenta.
In the Beginning, there was Keats, Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons Project....all prog rock harks back to these founding bands
You seem to have a view on Rock History similar to Karl's
it's very inspired by Yes
When are you going to finish The Wall series?
Hearing this I feel that there are some good ideas from Magenta and many from Yes and ELP. And as Amy has said things seem a bit artificial.
Hello Amy n Vlad,, to mmy ears this piece, this band is trying very hard to sound like YES.. certain sections are quite similar in the sound/arrangement and overall vibe of it,, other parts sound a bit simpler and more mainstream,, this song is all over the place.
I never heard of it before but I kind of liked it. It's possible that it would grow on me.
To me it sounded a little like Kansas.
I agree with Amy and I think I would use the term a little more organic.
This song always sounds to me like really immersive game ost. Some early divinities may be?
And I guess it's too long and repetitive for prog. Like one listening feels like twice or thrice listening.
Interesting exploration of ONE of Magenta's tracks. Yes some likenesses to 'Yes' and 'VanGelis.' I guess all bands have threads of other stuff running through them.
As a big Magenta fan although this is a good track I dont think it shows them off to the max. Thats the trouble with these critiques singling out a snippet of a bands whole catalogue.
They are very well known in the UK to those who venture out of the 70's and 80's prog scene and regularly do the current prog festivals . Magenta are very much now and regularly tour at home and in Europe. Christina Booths vocals are excellent and this track does not show them off to the max imho like some of their other tracks. She has won classic rock society vocalist of the year 4 times.
Anyone interested for contrast might like this excellent track released I think in 2020
th-cam.com/video/Y6USrkjBCCM/w-d-xo.html
Like others here, I've never heard of (or heard) Magenta before now. It's a strange band to introduce Amy to as representative of anything. If we're introducing someone to a new genre of music, it makes most sense to me to introduce those bands that have or had big hits and many hits. I didn't dislike it at all, but it's a very strange choice in my opinion.
Progressive rock hasn’t been progressive in over forty years.
Agree party but I guess it depends on what you consider to be progressive rock. If you include bands like Opeth and Gojira (which fits all criteria for progressive rock) then I would say that it has progressed quite a bit. But if you only consider bands that sounds just like Yes and Genesis then it hasn’t, by default, progressed many millimetres…
@@peterliljeholmen5703 I agree with you and I guess it’s a tale of two progressive rocks one is actually progressive in a sense of new and innovative and the other is basically imitating what was considered progressive in English art rock of the seventies.
😂
Try Big Big Train, innovative story telling with a five pice brass band.
@@alistairmacdonald3813 yes they are good. I like them thank you.
I've never heard of this. It sounds like a mix of Tina Guo, Goblin, ELP and contemporary country rock. You can't please everyone. There's no point trying, I suppose.
Well you have listened to much better progressive rock than this, Firth of fifth by Genesis, which you liked. And also 2 or 3 other song that fall under different kind of progressive rock, but I don't know in which order these videos are shown. I have never heard of this band. I did not find the music interesting. Also not the vocal parts. I did find it rather dull, the same feeling I got with Nightwish, easy listening, yes, but rather uninspiring.
Your self destructing. Your timeline is wrong and you need to correct course quickly. The songs need to appeal to her musical intellect . Your losing the viewers and Amy will lose interest eventually. Lets turn this around with some Meatloaf.
Mi ricorda moltissimo i genesis... e blade runner... e mike oldfield🤪
Obviously very influenced by Yes. Quite nice though.
Not my cup of tea. A lot of stuff thrown together does not make it good music.
The production is really not my thing. It misses life, it sounds artificial and overly compressed. The timbre feels off.
What was the idea of this listen? Let her make a historical base first, why let her listen to middle of the road easy listening music?
CHANNEL OWNERS: PLEASE READ!
The best period of so-called Prog Rock was in the late 60's and through the 70's. Bands like Procol Harum, King Crimson, ELP, Yes, Gentle Giant, Van Der Graaf Generator, Focus and Genesis (with PG) truly created new things . From then on, only imitations appeared. For example, American bands were a total disaster. They just took advantage of the grandiose aspect and delivered meaningless sound masses. Others, like the one we're listening to now, are composed by good musicians but just add cliché after cliché. An atrocious lack of originality, especially for those who know the originals.
Probably this guy, Vlad, just seems to know "the detritus" and ignore what gave rise to them. Not wanting to sound arrogant, I have to say that he has very little knowledge and that he advises Amy very badly. Where are songs like any of the first King Crimson album? Where is "A Salty Dog" by Procol Harum? Why not "Echoes" by Pink Floyd or the song that gives the title to the album Atom Heart Mother, where the functions of the orchestra and the band are completely changed, something I never saw happen again? Where is "Super's Ready" by Genesis, "Tarkus" by ELP or any song from "Close to the Edge" by Yes?
On the other hand, I don't know if it's Vlad or Amy who manage the channel, but with the quality of her comments and her friendliness, by now it should have many more subscribers than 80k. Everything seems to be done without much knowledge of how TH-cam works. An example? The tags are poor. Really, really poor! Make use of the free version of TubeBuddy and you will see the difference. I am unemployed and cannot be a patron, but it saddens me deeply that Amy's talent is wasted like this.
PS - I debated whether or not I should like this video. Amy's comments notwithstanding, in conscience I can't say that I liked the video. After all, the main thing is music, right?
PS2 - I'm sure I forgot some great Prog Rock bands. The intention was not to make an exhaustive list, just to give an idea of what was... forgotten?
I've never heard of them
Just a cheap Yes copy in my book.
they are trying to copy YES. YES is the original band you should head