The HFoS Prog Rock Christmas Selection Pack
At a loss on what to spend the Our Price vouchers you’ll inevitably receive this Christmas?
Well, as Head Full of Snow is here to assist you – connoisseur of finer music – we’ve knocked up a quick list of five progressive rock albums to keep you warm through the impending winter months. This isn’t a top 5 list, just a few suggestions of some HFoS faves.
First up, the prog list:
Jethro Tull – Thick As a Brick
Jethro Tull’s 1972 experiment in the ultimate concept album is a joy to behold. Essentially one song carved into two twenty minute slices, Thick as a Brick runs the full gamut of prog, even throwing in self-indulgent drum solos for good measure. Ian Anderson’s lyrics and vocals ensure the tongue remains firmly in the cheek throughout.
Thick as a Brick is available from Amazon.co.uk
Wizzard – Wizzard Brew
Roy Wood’s tour-de-force of progressive noisemaking confounded both critics and fans at the time of its release in 1973. Those expecting an album full of singles such as ‘Ballpark Incident’ and ‘See My Baby Jive‘, were knocked bandy by Wizzard Brew’s mix of styles and the complete lack of anything that could constitute a chart hit. ‘Wear a Fast Gun’, particularly, is prog perfection. The current CD reissue also bundles the non-album singles, including the perennial, and under the circumstances, wholly apt ‘I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday’.
Wizzard Brew is available from Amazon.co.uk
Genesis – Nursery Cryme
Long before Genesis fell under the will-to-live purloining spell of Phil Collins, they made albums such as this. Featuring the ten minute ‘Musical Box’ for starters, it’s both dramatic and pastoral in turns. It may be the first Genesis album to feature the malignant drummer, but don’t hold that against it, this is still Peter Gabriel’s gig. On 1971′s Nursery Cryme the Genesis cup runneth over with invention and storytelling in both the music and the lyrics.
Nursery Cryme is available from Amazon.co.uk
Yes – Close to the Edge
Rightfully listed in the book 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die, 1972′s Close to the Edge is Yes’s finest hour. The title track itself is worth the admission fee alone, and at a minute shy of the twenty mark there’s no fear of being dragged away from the fireside in a hurry. Mystical gubbins, Chris Squire’s bass and Rick Wakeman’s keyboard noodling drive the album spectacularly on.
Close to the Edge is available from Amazon.co.uk
Camel – Moonmadness
The last Camel album to feature their original line-up, and undoubtedly the best. 1976′s Moonmadness is a mellow offering that, following on from their previous exercise in listening to paint dry, The Snow Goose, returns vocals to the Camel sound. “Overall, the tracks comprising the album were conceived as a loose concept based on the individual personalities that made up Camel…” So says the CD reissue liner notes. All we know is that this often dreamlike offering is a damn fine listen that’ll transport your mind, if not your body, far from the bitter cold reality of the Great British winter.
Moonmadness is available from Amazon.co.uk
Next time, HFoS will be serving up the Psychedelic Rock Christmas Selection Pack.
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