I was a huge fan of prog rock back in the day. The Yes Album was my very
first album purchase, I believe, back when I was all of 10 years old!
Under the influence of my older brother, I became a Yes freak, and also
developed a great love of Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, and Jethro
Tull. Never was a big fan of ELP for some reason, though. Not sure why.
These days, the only one of these bands i still listen to on a regular basis
is Yes. My favorite album is Topographic Oceans, followed by Going For The
One. I hate everything after Drama (i.e. from the point Trevor Rabin joined
up).
My brother and i were initially trained as classical guitarists, so i think
that played a large part in our appreciation of the complexity and
virtuosity of bands like Yes. I've never really understood the charges of
"bombast" and "self indulgence" levelled at the prog bands. True, sometimes
some of the bands went overboard. Some of the bands sucked. But I still
admire and adore those albums when bands like Yes achieved something akin to
a marriage of rock and Western classical music.
I remember when I discovered punk rock, though. I grabbed all my prog and
classic rock albums, ran off to the used record store, sold them all for
peanuts, and used the cash to buy Sex Pistols, Clash, Black Flag, patti
Smith, Devo, Ramones, etc. etc.
These days, at the grand old age of 36, I've finally come to peace with my
love for various forms of apparently contradictory musical genres. Depending
on my mood, you'll find me drinking in Yes, underground hip hop, free jazz,
indie rock, Chinese classical music, etc etc
why limit myself to one cuisine?
