The thing about progressive rock is that the music is unabashedly excessive about what it is doing, so if you like it (as I do) it's glorious, and if you don't, it's hellish.

 Boy_Wonder wrote: 

Ok all you smart folks out there.... what is he singing about!! Answers on a postcard please... just don't send them to me!

The path is clear
Though no eyes can see
The course laid down long before.
And so with gods and men
The sheeps remain inside their pen,
Though many times they've seen the way to leave.

He rides majestic
Past homes of men
Who care not or gaze with joy,
To see reflected there
The trees, the sky, the lily fair,
The scene of death is lying just below.

The mountain cuts off the town from view,
Like a cancer growth is removed by skill.
Let it be revealed.
A waterfall, his madrigal.
An inland sea, his symphony.

Undinal songs
Urge the sailors on
Till lured by the sirens' cry.

Now as the river dissolves in sea,
So Neptune has claimed another soul.
And so with gods and men
The sheeps remain inside their pen,
Until the Shepherd leads his flock away.

The sands of time were eroded by
The river of constant change

Ok all you smart folks out there.... what is he singing about!! Answers on a postcard please... just don't send them to me!

The path is clear
Though no eyes can see
The course laid down long before.
And so with gods and men
The sheeps remain inside their pen,
Though many times they've seen the way to leave.

He rides majestic
Past homes of men
Who care not or gaze with joy,
To see reflected there
The trees, the sky, the lily fair,
The scene of death is lying just below.

The mountain cuts off the town from view,
Like a cancer growth is removed by skill.
Let it be revealed.
A waterfall, his madrigal.
An inland sea, his symphony.

Undinal songs
Urge the sailors on
Till lured by the sirens' cry.

Now as the river dissolves in sea,
So Neptune has claimed another soul.
And so with gods and men
The sheeps remain inside their pen,
Until the Shepherd leads his flock away.

The sands of time were eroded by
The river of constant change

This must be how Pink Floyd haters feel when forced to listen to Meddle.

Haven't heard this is years.  I forgot what amazing music is.  Thanks, RP

Entertaining for the first 20 minutes, but the last 45 just seem to go on and on.

Just breathtaking......what an amazing transition from a classical sound to the sounds of pounding drums and dominating organ !! 

agree 100% with this analysis...

Or we could say:  Music for highly-intelligent cultured people older than the current lost in angst generation.  Hmmm which is accurate?  

Or we could say:  Music for highly-intelligent, cultured people, older than the current lost-in-angst generation.  Hmmm, which is accurate?  

Might agree with you about King Crimson and ELP from a purely technical perspective, but all of the musicians in Genesis were better than the musicians in Pink Floyd at their respective instruments (except maybe Hackett vs Gilmour but that's an apples to oranges comparison). 

Tony Banks vs Rick Wright/Roger Waters — are you kidding?  Rick did great work, but Tony not only is better technically (this song is exhibit A), but also wrote or cowrote a thin majority of the Genesis songs (thin majority since they were very democratic in their songwriting), and wrote a ton of very deep, thought provoking, and even political lyrics throughout their entire career (Phil and Gabriel era both).  Tony's lyrics are much more subtle/nuanced (though perhaps a bit too highbrow and sometimes awkward) than a lot of Roger Waters' "I hate capitalist pigs/being a rock star sucks" diatribes, but he still addresses political topics on songs like Domino, Cul de Sac, and One for the Vine, arguably more effectively than a song like Sheep which bashes you over the head.  Rick Wright had some input on a moderate number of songs in Floyd's early days, but that was basically over by the time of Wish You Were Here.  Plus Tony did do some singing in the band's early years just like Rick did in Floyd's early years, and he also played a lot of 12 string guitar in the early days.

Roger Waters vs Mike Rutherford — Mike is in a different league than Roger on bass — way better.  Plus Mike plays all guitar in the post-Hackett era and almost all the rhythm guitar during the Hackett phase.  Roger can outsing Mike, of course, but Mike was a huge influence on the songwriting and lyrics for Genesis throughout their career, and had a successful solo career in Mike and the Mechanics (not the greatest band ever but they managed to score a few hits). 

Phil Collins vs Nick Mason — now that's a HUGE stretch.  Again, Nick was great at what he did in Pink Floyd, but Phil is one of the greatest drummers of all time plus he sang.

Peter Gabriel vs Gilmour/Waters as a frontman/visual artist — Peter not only wrote a lot of lyrics and wrote some music (though not nearly as much as most people think), he also spearheaded the use of special effects and theatricality.  Yes Floyd used a lot of special effects, but since they didn't have a dedicated frontman they couldn't engage (some might say indulge) in the kind of spectacles that Peter was able to pull off while he was with Genesis.  Love it or hate it, Peter's theatrics were just as original as some of Floyd's special effects.  Plus Peter's voice is pretty darn good, especially in his younger days when he had more range, although I'd say comparing Peter vocally to either Gabriel or Waters is a push.

Or we could say:  Music for highly-intelligent cultured people older than the current lost in angst generation.  Hmmm which is accurate?  

Music for old people who are into Dungeons and Dragons — the Moody Blues crowd.

Music for old people who are into Dungeons and Dragons — the Moody Blues crowd.

Dear Lord!!  I can agree with you on some of what you said—I'll take it you meant 'Gilmour', above where you said "Gabriel & Waters"—-but you have to leave Waters out of this equasion...PG & DG are both genius's in their own way: To me, both Gilmour and Gabriel have magnificent voices, all three can write terrific pieces, and no one plays guiter like Gilmour; but Waters, although I enjoy listening to him, can't sing anywhere near as well as the other two...

.....Plus Peter's voice is pretty darn good, especially in his younger days when he had more range, although I'd say comparing Peter vocally to either Gabriel or Waters is a push.

Hackett v Gilmour = Hackett as victor every time, yes you're right it's apples to oranges. But, stylistic riffing is a category Steve wins