Classic Rock And Prog Almanac

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their favourite 60s bands, minus ‘the big two’. How does the British rock and pop scene stand up without its two most famous elements? The guys discuss: the difference between musical contributions and cultural contributions, the influence of folk and blues, what it means to say that a band made its key contributions in the 60s (if they continued into the 70s) and whet...

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinions of the third album by Cream, Wheels Of Fire (Studio). The discussion includes: whether the band can be considered psychedelic or not, why they are masters of the art of syncopation and why they hated each other so much. Also, was Cream really a jazz band but noone had bothered to tell Eric? Is Pressed Rat And Warthog really like Wind in the Willows on ac...

Peter and Shaun were busy this week, so Tim had a conversation with himself, about the third album by Iron Maiden, The Number Of The Beast. The ‘discussion’ includes: the programmatic nature of Maiden’s music, why this album is considered their best, why they always use the same chords, and which their best line-up was. Also, was Hallowed Be Thy Name based on a book by Dostoyevsky? Is this Iron Ma...

This week, Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their least favourite songs by possibly the greatest band of all time, thus providing a potential track listing for a third mythical album to add to “The White Album” and “The Black Album”: “The Brown Album”. Topics discussed include the following. Will George and Ringo be over-represented in the list? Are later bad Beatles songs worse than early bad Beatles...

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinions of the seventh studio album by King Crimson, Red. The discussion includes: the band’s incredible musicianship, the relative merits of the albums in the Mark III period, whether the group sounds better with or without violin, and whether Starless is the greatest King Crimson track of all time. Also, can Robert Fripp play the blues? Does Phil Collins sound...

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinions of the third album by Camel, The Snow Goose. The discussion includes: the quality of Camel's musicianship, why they decided to do an instrumental album, where does the band stand in the British prog canon and to what extent can music represent images? Also, were the band influenced by 70's game show music? Why did they choose duck sounds to represent a g...

Peter and Shaun were busy this week, so Tim did a monologue about the newly-rereleased Queen 1. The monologue includes: the uneven development between Queen’s songwriters, the brilliance of Brian May’s guitar playing, whether Queen’s singles are better than their albums, and is the cover an early example of ‘queering’? Also, was Freddie a Christian? Did Roger Taylor really need a drum solo? And wo...

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinons of the second album by Led Zeppelin. The discussion includes: the British blues explosion of the sixties, the difference between English folk and American folk, why couldn’t the band think of proper names for their albums?, and did John Bonham write Whole Lotta Love? Also: are the lyrics on this album good or not? Did they understand that the name Led Zep...

Peter, Shaun and Tim rank the Genesis studio albums. There's a few surprises, and one or two good rants. Also, how many ways are there to count to 15? And what does Shaun's brother Steve think?

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinions of the fourth album by Jethro Tull, Aqualung. The discussion includes: Jethro Tull’s innovative lyrics, whether their style precipitated prog rock and heavy metal, why the album was so big in America, and, most crucially, was it a concept album or not? Also, did Ian Anderson really threaten to do a flute solo if the band didn’t nail their solos in two ta...

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinions of the fourth album by Rush, 2112. The discussion includes: Rush’s career swerve, the band’s fascination with Ayn Rand, why the album was considered better than Caress of Steel, and whether the whole concept for the album actually came from Tchaikovsky. Also, what actually happens in the title track? Would it really be so bad to live under the rule of th...

Peter and Shaun were busy this week, so Tim had a debate with himself, about the eighteenth studio album by Marillion, F.E.A.R.. The ‘discussion’ includes: whether Marillion owe more to Genesis or to Pink Floyd, why the band’s abstract compositional technique is so difficult to discuss conceptually, and whether ultimately they are writing tracks or albums. Also, did they read Thomas Pikkety’s Capi...

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinions of the fourth (or fifth?) album by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Brain Salad Surgery. The discussion includes: ELP's astonishing musical talent, whether this was supposed to be a concept album or not and the question of why the band chose to do so many cover versions. Also, why was everyone so keen to go to Switzerland? Can we put together a crowd funder to...

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinions of the debut album by King Crimson, In The Court Of The Crimson King. The discussion includes: King Crimson as singularity, what makes Michael Giles such a good drummer and why the heavy reliance on the mellotron? Also, should Mirrors be used on Strictly Come Dancing? And how do you pronounce Judy Dyble's surname?

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinions of the eighth album by Pink Floyd, Dark Side Of The Moon. The discussion includes: Pink Floyd's musical ability, whether it truly works as a concept album and whether the cover was based on the Black Magic chocolate box or Milk Tray. Also, is the opening of 'Money' the sound of someone paying Clare Torry her 60 quid session fee? And who on earth is Barry...

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinions of the fifth studio album by Yes, Close To The Edge, as well as Jon Anderson's early work, as a milkman in Accrington, Lancashire.

Peter, Shaun and Tim discuss their opinions of the fifth studio album by Genesis, Selling England By The Pound.