Re: OT: Prog Rock in 5 minutes ;-)

[Mech <mech@m3ch.net>]

At 8:14 PM -0800 11/30/09, Art Simon wrote:
>
>Just for the record, Jan Akkerman is a great. In the video, he keeps
>his cool despite the yodeling hysteria. I think Thijs Van Leer
>eventually got on his nerves too. His self titled album on Epic in
>1977 is still a favorite. More recent stuff like C.U. is killer.

I was big into prog rock during the first couple of years of 
high-school (until I discovered punk -- seemingly the anti-thesis of 
prog).  I'll heartily agree that Akkerman was always way(!) 
underrated.  I'd heard and enjoyed "Hocus Pocus" on the radio, but 
didn't actually own a copy until Focus released their first 
compilation album.  Also on that albun is an alternate mix of "Hocus 
Pocus" where they allow Akkerman to actually stretch out and solo 
during the break.  That one cut shows that, for the time period, his 
speed and technical accuracy are truly amazing -- pre-dating sweep 
picking and speed artists like Yngwie Malmsteen by at least a decade.

I wasn't so impressed with Jan Akkerman's first solo album.  Merely a 
matter of opinion: like much of Steve Howe's early solo work, he went 
too far off into baroque tangents for my tastes. although i did like 
his solo stuff more than Howe's.  And, to his credit, he restrained 
himself from further speed exercises, IIRC.  However, those fireworks 
were what I was hoping for when I bought the album, so I was certain 
to be disappointed <*shrug*>.

On the other hand, there is one other prog gem from Focus, if you can 
find it.  There was a later album named "Hamburger Concerto".  Not 
only is it a fine piece of prog rock, but it also contains liberal 
amounts of that one vital element missing from many prog bands: a 
sense of humor.  Unfortunately, I think it was a commercial flop, but 
it's actually quite enjoyable.  I'd actually place it about halfway 
on the scale between traditional prog and avant-prog artists like 
Henry Cow (which is another conversation in itself).

Would love to hear later Akkerman releases.  You say he's still 
recording, eh?  Gonna have to do a search on that...

        --m.
-- 
_____
"beyond this window, night is shuddering and the earth grinds to a halt
    beyond this window, something unknown is watching you and me...."