My affair with what we now call Prog Rock blossomed just when it was supposed to: when I was 15 years old. Floyd, Tull, ELP, Rush and especially Genesis. Early Genesis, although I admit to a fondness to their late-middle period like “Duke” and “Abacab.” (Let’s face it, some of those cuts on “Abacab” like “Dodo” just fuckin’ rock, I don’t care if is Phil Collins singing.)
Of course “Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” merited the most awe, but I’ve always felt that “Foxtrot” was their perfect album. “Watcher Of The Skies,” its references to Arthur C. Clarke either a good or bad thing depending on your point of view, is one of the most original opening cuts in all of rock history. At first it comes on like an ethereal, almost church-y song — but the bass and furious rhythms are very subversive on this front.
I gave up on music criticism a long, long time ago (last published record review: late 2001) so I lack the adjectives to get into it too much. But if you have this tape somewhere in a milk crate in your attic, dig it up. Or check if some of the songs are floating around on the Web. I’m really rockin’ out at my computer right now.
