Through most of my childhood, I listened to 80's pop rock, usually from Britain and Australia. My favorites were Duran Duran, INXS, Men At Work, Peter Gabriel, The Church, The Outfield, etc. I still listen to all these bands today whenever the mood strikes me.
When I started high school (sorry if this makes anyone feel old
), Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and the rest of the grunge scene was strongly taking over and I developed a taste for heavier music. I started looking to the bands that influenced them and discovered what most people knew--the classic rock of the 1970's pretty much defined rock music for everything after. At work during the summers home from college, I started listening to my all-time favorite radio station (after AM, of course
), 107.5 FM, WCCN out of Neillsville, WI (aka The Rock), which played just about anything that came from the 60's, 70's, and 80's--just so long as it rocked! They would often play Pink Floyd, Rush (I was already into Rush, but didn't really know what progressive rock was), ELP, and Yes, but at the time, I was more into Led Zeppelin, Foreigner, Journey, and Kansas (I still don't really see these guys as that progressive), along with my growing interest in metal and industrial (Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, etc.). Again, all these bands remain in my collection and I listen to them frequently.
During my freshman year of college, I joined a Classical Music CD club in an attempt (successful, IMO) to broaden my horizons. I found myself attracted mostly to Romantic-era composers and their followers: Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Mahler, & Dvorak all became favorites. But a lot of the time, I'd fall asleep listening to the slower, less energetic passages. "What this stuff needs," I thought to myself, drifting into dreamland, "is an electric guitar or some keyboards!" Enter Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
During the break of my 1st and 2nd year of college, I noticed ELP's "Lucky Man" was in constant rotation for some reason and I couldn't stop singing the song to myself. So I went out and picked up ELP's Greatest Hits (still not sure if I'd like anything else, but at least I'd have the one song). I was awestruck and amazed by what I'd heard. And I began to learn of the term progressive rock, but still wasn't sure what to expect from all the other choices. I still listened to Rush, owned "Dark Side Of The Moon" (but preferred "The Wall" for some reason), and liked Yes when I heard them on the radio, but I just didn't know. Enter the greatest boxed set in my entire collection of CD's.
Rhino Records released "Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era, 1967-1976," a 5-disc boxed set, around 1995. This was the first turning point in my musical journey. After absorbing each and every song, I soon had collected almost every album by ELP, Genesis, and Yes and had a jumping-off point for numerous bands that I had never even heard of. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this set for anyone who needs a place to start getting into progressive rock.
So now I had all the albums of the big five: Rush, Pink Floyd, ELP, Yes and Genesis--I was content but soon found myself wishing for more. Despite a Yes release every 2 years or so, new progressive music seemed to be out of my reach (I still had trouble using the term progressive music, not fully understanding its meaning). After college, I started my current job, and met a good friend who introduced me to Spock's Beard, Dream Theater, and several other prog metal bands. Suddenly faced with an overabundance of web-surfing time (hence the unbelievable length of this post!), I quickly discovered Aural Moon from the Progressive Rock Radio Network (
www.progradio.net).
From this fabulous progressive rock mecca, I learned of bands no one I knew had ever heard of, let alone listened to. Bands like Ayreon, King Crimson (yeah, even they didn't make the playlist of WCCN), Marillion, Anekdoten, Anglagard, and Galleon all became new favorites. And following the "family trees" of these artists and many others has become the best way I have found to discover new music that interests me. By far Aural Moon has been the most influential turning point in my musical journey. Davin, Jim, you guys rock! Thank you for this great station and all this great music.
Long Live Aural Moon!
Todd
PS: So to answer your questions, clactdj:
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer was my big fave in 1996, the year I made contact!
My favorites now are probably Genesis and Yes, constantly switching positions on the chart, depending on my mood.