Your dad has excellent taste! I am not a Yes fan only because I’m not familiar enough with them (though I’ve liked what I’ve heard) but Floyd and Tull share billing as my favorite bands ever.
Queen II fer sure!
well mebbe Queen…or … A Night at the Opera…or… A Day at the Races.
News of the World!..
…no, Queen II I think
NOFX - Punk in Drublic
Bad Religion - Against the Grain, The Process of Belief
No Use for a Name - Leche con Carne
KRS-ONE - self titled
Husker Du is pretty much my favorite band ever, so allow me to add to this.
Though Husker Du were inarguably a hardcore band - they played fast, loud, heavy music as part of the early American hardcore scene - their music was truly driven by impeccable pop songwriting chops underneath the fuzz. In fact, the Huskers (as they’re affectionately called) were truly an Americana band influenced by sixties AM pop, just one that happened to dress it up in a wall of howling fuzz. I always think of them as being basically the same band as REM, but with everything turned up to 11 instead of clean jangle. Their ridiculously prodigious output - two timeless DOUBLE albums, and four more unparalleled regular-length records in the space of six years - is matched only by the Beatles in terms of raw workload and prolificness.
Then, the band left the independent hardcore scene and signed to Warner Brothers without “selling out” or without a dip in quality - they actually made their best records for the major label, and moved away from pure fuzz, incorporating keyboards, drum machine, acoustic guitars, etc. (these elements had always been a part of the band’s sound, but were usually mixed low or hidden behind the guitars).
On a personal note, both of the band’s songwriters - Bob Mould and Grant Hart - were openly gay in an increasingly macho and homophobic hardcore scene, and the band’s one straight member, bassist Grant Norton, sported the gayest-looking handlebar moustache for the majority of the band’s career. Mould and Hart’s rivalry as songwriters and personalities, akin to Lennon and McCartney’s, drove each guy to constantly outdo and one-up the other, leading to amazing records but ultimately resulting in the band’s destruction.
For a newcomer, I’d probably suggest Flip Your Wig, the band’s first record for Warner Brothers. It’s more polished than previous records and has some of the band’s best pop songwriting, but it’s still got a bite and power. Next would probably be New Day Rising, my personal favorite record by the band.
When I first heard Husker Du (Zen Arcade), my brother and I were sitting there listening to it, and we both immediately came to the conclusion that it was very loud folk music.
(I saw them on the Warehouse tour. They were great, but it was easy to tell they were down to the “sick to death of each other” part of their career)
Bob Mould lives here in DC now. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get him to one of our shows, but short of stalking, it’s probably not going to happen any time soon.
ETA: Whattya know, he’s playing the 9:30 Saturday!
Anyway, his latest is back to the rock. I haven’t heard it yet, though.
Yah, thanks to Dad prog rock was pretty much the only music I listened to up until I was about 13-14. The first cassettes I ever owned were Pink Floyd’s Animals, Tangerine Dream’s Cyclone and Symphonic Music of Yes.
Dad is pretty bummed right now because Dream Theater is going to be playing in Orlando at the end of May, but I’m moving away before then so I won’t be able to take him to see them. 
I really do love Celtic rock. Probably my favorite artist (yeah, it varies from day to day) would be Wolfstone. It’s quite tough to pick a favorite album, but I’d probably start someone new to the genre (and band) with Almost an Island.
It really is a tough call, but for me, Stormwatch would edge out the others.
I have to agree with you on that one. It’s one of my favorite albums of all time, and Annie was at her prime. I saw them live a few years after that album came out, and it was a wonderful experience. First time I’d ever heard a 20-minute bass solo.
Genesis
Probably *A Trick of the Tail * for the Phil Collins era. Very close behind would be Wind and Wuthering, but *Trick * is just a bit more accessible for a new fan.
For the Peter Gabriel era, easily* Selling England By the Pound*.
Which one of his ones are more straight-up techno, like the latter half of MiSL? The first half of MiSL is far too “Big Beat” for my tastes (“Dance to the beat, shuffle my feet” * 10,000,000 :mad: ) But most of the latter half are amongst my favorite dance songs of all time.
Oh, and I see that the Wiki sez that he was a trance pioneer, but most of the trance I’ve heard plays with the meter and beat too much to actually pay attention to to the point that it’s very annoying. Which is another reason why I like the actual dance songs on MiSL: they use a lot of the trance sounds but without having to “experiment” with unusual time signatures and such.
Oooooh haven’t listened to that one in forever. Gotta go put that on my playlist. “Dun Ringill” is one of my favorite songs ever, and the chorus from “Old Ghosts” haunts me: “I’ll be coming again like an old dog in pain… (etc)”
Rush: Everybody answers this question with “Moving Pictures” or “2112”.
I’d instead recommend “Permanent Waves”, the album that got me into them, or their latest CD, “Snakes & Arrows”. Of course, there’s enough variation from one Rush album to the next that I could pick just about any album based on what I already know about the person’s musical tastes.
Yeah, Dun Ringill is one of my favorites, too, but Orion’s even better!
Seriously? You’re about the only person in the world who prefers Second Coming to the Stone Roses - IMO there isn’t a bad song on The Stone Roses, but there’s plenty on Second Coming (Driving South?).
R&R (2 cd set) has a good mix of tunes, that I don’t think are too fast most are on a mix CD that I have for just driving around town. They include: Dreaming*, Godspeed, Elastic Reality and Remember*. There’s some other good ones, but maybe they’re a bit more dancy - such as: *Blue Skies * (Tori Amos), *I Love You * (Sarah McLachlan), Sunblind. The ones with ‘mix’ attached to it, definitely are those I could imagine being a club with the sound thumping.
Now, if you want something really different…This Binary Universary, it’s really different, very cerebral. Of course a month or so ago I ran across a thread about the *Anhtkythera Mechanism * and couldn’t figure out why it seemed familiar, then I remember it was a title to a song of his as well. :smack:
Okay - for fun, I’ll go with **Prince’s Dirty Mind **because it was a freakishly brilliant coming out party for one of the most influential players on the scene for the next decade. (I prefer Sign O’ The Times as his best, but it wasn’t the First Shot that Dirty Mind was…)
Prince had come out with two albums prior, For You and Prince, and even had a minor R&B hit off of the second one (what was it - I Wanna be Your Lover??). So what happened next was completely unexpected. Like Tiger Woods stepping back and choosing to take the time to completely reinvent his swing, Prince broke down his music and built it up in a completely different way. It was a conspicuously conscious attempt to go commercial - while at the same time, a huge risk.
The rhythm section of the songs completely embraced New Wave-y whiteness - programmed drums, repetitive, pre-techno synthy’s, thin, brittle nasal guitars. But…but - the funk was still totally there - Parliament-quality filthy grooves, arrangements that sounded like Tower of Power horn arrangements - but the pieces were put together using New Wave tones. It was ambiguously universal - and all it’s own.
And just like the sound was ambiguous, Prince was positioning himself as controversially sexual - an androgynous look and hardcore lyrics about oral sex (“Head”) and incest (“Sister”) - all sung with a big smile and boyish innocence. It’s just fun, innit? But the song stories were so interesting and the music so addicting you found yourself tapping your feet - but it was dirty, wasn’t it? I’m not supposed to feel good about this stuff - and bingo! He has you - trapped in that fun-but-bad danger world of rock n’ roll. Game, set, match to the dude in speedo briefs and a purple leatherette trenchcoat with the checkerboard Rude Boy pin on the lapel.
When it came out, people flat-out did not know how to process it. Some folks got it immediately and Prince worship became this total Insider “you either get it or you are choosing to miss something really important” membership card.
What’s important to note hear is that the CD stands up today and will for a while. The tones are of their times - you can’t listen to When You Were Mine without being beamed back to the day - but the songs stand up. Excellent, excellent examples of songcraft - anyone who does this stuff for a living was just shut down by the ease with which Prince could tell a lyrically interesting story with commercially-catchy hook and a never-forget-it melody.
Hope a noob finds this a decent introduction to a piece of my favoriate music, per the OP…
Pink Floyd-Live at Pompeii
This album is a bit rare, but the concert film it comes from is easily found. It’s a bit of a compilation, as it was recorded live sans audience at the Pompeii ruins. Every song on there is the most beautiful version of each I’ve ever heard. David Gilmour’s voice is also at its most powerful. It is like a religious experience for me.
Jethro Tull-Thick as a Brick
This is a classic for a reason. It is so freaking long. I love it. Prog rock at its finest.
Ween-Pure Guava
Ween is a very strange band. They very much defy categorization, and Gene and Dean Ween look like total nutballs; they dress normal, but you can see it in their eyes… Pure Guava probably has the highest concentration of my favorite songs on it, but it is hard to choose, because I really love God Ween Satan, but it’s pretty inaccessible for the average listener. It’s even a little obnoxious (okay, a lot obnoxious) but in the most perfect way possible.
Here’s some of mine - nothing fancy, cause I could type all day about these bands, but I’m at work now, so I’ve just included Myspace pages included to let their music speak for itself.
Good old fashioned straight-ahead rock:
Reigning Sound - Home for Orphans, or Too Much Guitar, or, hell, any of their stuff.
Heartless Bastards - All This Time
The Sights - Got What We Want or The Sights
More out there stuff:
Hawksley Workman - (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Areoplane Over the Sea
Balkan Beat Box - Everything they’ve done
I’d say maybe Ween’s Live in Toronto Canada might be a good introduction - you’ve got some of their f**ked-up, pseudo-metal with the pitch-shifted vocals, and you’ve got some of their serious sh*t-kickin’ country with Bobby Ogden and the Shit Creek Boys. Plus, a kickass version of “Piano Man”.
I’d have to second this sentiment. ESpecially the “no bad song” bit. Yes even “Elizabeth, My Dear”
And for Jethro Tull? In the spirit of the OP, I’d say Living In The Past is the one most likely to get a new listener into them.
Possibly classified as “modern jazz”, I present The Pat Metheny Group - Still Life (Talking), sample here, then their self-titled album, sample here.
I wish they would get more attention, especially from Dopers. I’ve seen them 17 times (at least I’ve seen Pat that many times).
(ETA) - that first sample is pretty lame. I’ll try and find a better one.