Prog Cup 2019 Round 1 Match 1

[never/ever]

A

Electric Light Orchestra - Manhattan Rumble (49 Street Massacre)





B

Seventh Wave – Star Palace of The Sombre Warrior

[Jumper K]

Blimey! Vaudevillian ELO is new to me. Can’t say I’m enthralled. But I prefer my Yes distinctly old school.
A.

[Purgatory Brite]

An interesting track from the period when Lynne and Wood were running the Move and ELO as concurrent projects.

However, B, presses all the right buttons that keyboard driven prog should do.

B

[Mike Boom]

A

B was a bit overblown for me.

[toomanyhatz]

I like a lot about B - sounds like actual mellotron! - but it's just a touch overdramatic. I almost want to "buy in" to the ridiculousness of it, but the big swells at the end put me off a bit.

A is a bit of a curio - not sure what to make of the uneasy collaboration between two guys that would soon make their mark on the charts, or the fact that the cleverer of the two was not the more successful (not that I'll cry for him, I'm sure he's not hurting). I have the opposite problem with it - it's too clever by half and lacks the gravitas of their best stuff - but they get a lot into a short track and that's more my kind of prog, ultimately.

[Loki]

Didn't care for A, sorry.

[trans-chigley express]

B sounded very much in Enid territory with it's keyboards sounds and theatrical arrangements. I enjoyed it except for the vocalist.

A little early ELO goes a long way, I found them a bit heavy handed with Roy Wood but they had a few gems and I like this one well enough.

A

[C]

I have never been an ELO fan and this track is not going to change my mind.

As for B I thought it was a bit of a dog's breakfast - a bit here and a bit there.

I was very unkeen.

I promised myself I wouldn't abstain in this cup but gosh I am very close.

To my old ears Match 1 was far from full of music.

Reluctantly because I could hear Peter Hammill in the vocals (at times!)

-+B+-




.

[Neil Jung]

Not very keen on either...

B.

[Spock!]

Aye, neither did much for me, the ELO was more unpleasing, so B it is by the width of one of Percy's hairs.

[Walk In My Shadow]

a

[algroth]

Not what I expected to hear from ELO at all, even whilst knowing their early works' reputation as being a little more "out there". Certainly beats there future output as far as I'm concerned. There's an interesting tango-esque drive to the piece, it's pretty cool.

On the other hand, I'm not a fan of B much, it has that same sense of lumpen grandiosity the likes of Styx, Kansas and other AOR bands of the style. Heck, of later ELO too for that matter. Some neat Soviet-sounding synth basslines, but that aside, very much not my thing. A

[Hightea]

A- nice early ELo track. Can see the light that comes later but still enough interesting sounds that keep me enjoying it.

B- nice space rock track with hints of Peter Hammill vocals( ha see its VDGG's organ player) also has a hint of early Steve Hillage/Canterbury(oh its Peter Lemer's band). weak lyric and vocals but doesn't matter much to me.

I'll take the lesser know band and tune
B

[Lord Rother]

Both tracks new to me.

B floats my boat nicely.

B

[never/ever]

It's March Of The Elephants vs Flight Of The Spaceheads....
I'm more into the spacey kind but A is not bad


B

[fange]

A

[Neige]

Didn't know B and quite like it...

but I love Wood and Lynne together and all the unusual instruments

A

[joels344]

A takes this one.

[never/ever]

Neige 9

Purgatory Brite 8