Show Notes
This week, Tim and Shaun ranked all 13 King Crimson studio albums, from their least favourite to their favourite. Topics covered include: the Bartokian influence on the band; whether the 1980s incarnation of the band should have taken the name King Crimson; whether the band were the precursors of mathrock; which the best line-up of the band is and whether the band should be considered prog or not. Also, what do King Crimson have in common with Cher? How do you pronounce Gamelan? What’s the most Foreigner-like album King Crimson ever made? What was on JG Bennett’s shopping list? What did people do for fun before the internet was invented? And who will be the first to mention Angine de Poitrine?
More from Classic Rock And Prog Almanac
This week, Tim did a monologue on the second Crosby and Nash album, Wind On The Water. Topics covered include: the connection between this album and the unreleased CSNY album Human Highway, the jazz influence on the album, the division of labour between the two writers and the autobiographical nature of the lyrics. Also, are Californians metaphysical? Does flying represent erections? Is Graham Nash obsessed with carrying things? How many songs on the album are about rocks? Are lions good at multitasking? And no prizes for guessing which Wizard of Oz character David Crosby resembles…
This week Tim, Shaun & Peter ranked the Beatles UK studio albums. Topic covered include: which Beatle writes with the most interesting chords, how to construct a Beatles canon, how much Beatles material was contractual, whether the Beatles’ career can be divided into a John phase and a Paul phase, and when they came to terms with the album as form. Also, is David Essex from Essex? On which album is Ringo’s bass drum pedal squeak featured? Which is worse, Help the album or Help the film? Did the Beatles invent goth rock? And which is better, the Shaunometer or the Petergraph? There’s only one way to find out…
This week, Tim did a monologue on the fourth and final studio album by The Move, Message From The Country. Topics covered include: whether this is a concept album or not, the contrast between the chaos of the band’s career and the coherence of the record, whether The Move were one of the greatest groups of the 1960s and the significance of biblical references on the album. Also, are they the only UK band to have been sued by the Prime Minister? Exactly how much Christian eschatology is there on the album? When does a thing stop being a thing? And finally, when the band talk about a message from the country, which country exactly are they talking about?
This week, Peter did a monologue on the third album by Nick Drake, Pink Moon (for Jacob!). Topics covered include: Nick Drake’s biography, which album is Nick Drake’s best, the question of overdubbing, the guitar playing on the album, and the rediscovery of Nick Drake in the 1990s. Also, what’s the holy trinity of failure? Did Nick Drake leave the tapes for the album in the record company reception? What’s the meaning of 11? What happens if a Nick Drake song goes over 4 minutes? And the hardy perennial: is it a concept album?
This week, Tim and Shaun discussed their top ten favourite progressive rock albums from 1971. Topics covered include: the importance of virtuosity in prog, whether album covers are important for an album, the role of improvisation in progressive rock music, whether early minimalism was an influence on prog and the possible relationship between folk music and prog. Also, what was Prog’s Pol Pot year? Did anyone catch the prog-adjacent proms? What’s an eco-ballad when it's at home? How would Tim re-write various Yes tracks? Has Shaun brought his actuarial tables? And the question of the day: “is it prog”?