Classic Rock And Prog Almanac

This week, Tim did a monologue on the third Rush album, Caress Of Steel. Topics covered include: Rush’s relation to the prog rock canon, the influence Rush had on bands like Metallica, Rush’s arrangement gift, the nostalgic nature of some of the words, and how the album matches up to Rush’s more famous album, 2112. Also, are drum solos on albums ever a good idea? Can Thomas More’s Utopia be found in Canada? What would Woody Allen think of Rush? Who is the Greek God of having fun? Which bit of the album can be described as ur-Lifeson? And where do you find Ontario on the maps of Middle Earth?

This week, Tim, Peter and Shaun discussed their top five favourite albums from 1969. Topics covered include: the bubbling cauldron of creativity that was the 1960s, what the best year in the history of rock was, the balance between U.K. & U.S. albums, whether the albums from this period should be considered unrepeatable experiences, and the infamous prog proms. Also, what is Lammastide when it’s at home? What’s Alain Badiou’s theory of history? What’s the best play ever written about a carpet fitter? Does anyone remember Bagpuss? Who’s your Neil Young? What was Noel Redding angry about? And it’s a welcome return (one assumes) for round-up of the week.

This week, Tim discussed the only studio album by the band Refugee, from 1974. Topics covered include: why the album wasn’t rubbish, the virtuosic gifts of Patrick Moraz, whether prog is modernist or post-modernist, how the band measures up to The Nice and ELP, and why they never made a second album. Also, should the band have been called Asylum Seeker? What was Lee Jackson’s ex-wife like? Is music schizophrenic? What would TripAdvisor have made of this album? Did Lee Jackson waste his time in the library? And who chose that cover?

This week, Tim did a ranking of all 24 studio albums by The Kinks. Topics covered include: the role of genre music in the Kinks catalogue, the difference between the American and the British reception of the band, the importance of having a concept for an album, the political correctness issue, the Ray/Dave Davies dialectic and the singles/albums split. Also, how many times do you have to kill Antigone? Is there a connection between Ray Davies and Morrissey? Is Ray Davies serious when he says he hates education? Do soundtracks have to be any good? Is there any universality that isn’t subjective? And is a spectre haunting The Kinks?

This week, Peter and Shaun brought their history of jazz for a rock audience up to date. Topics covered include: the relationship between individual jazz musicians and bands, whether there was a ‘golden era’ of jazz, what the ‘cultural revolution’ of the 60s meant for jazz, whether jazz is essentially an American art form, and do we like modal and free jazz? Also, does anyone remember Les Dawson? Did Frank Zappa try to put his audience off from listening to him? What’s the exact temperature of cool jazz? Can you beat jazz flute? And is something jazz just because Ginger Baker says so? Will anyone mention Miles Davis? And is it pronounced Porgy or Porky?

Link to Spotify playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3DBe4plpktVOuKFyV6T9LR?si=eHnSdIR4TEyYzuqiQBVRjg&pi=iw2MwbMnRUWqU