Your way in
Avant-prog / RIO 1978
Rock in Opposition: dissonance, chamber music and left-wing politics. Prog that refuses on principle to be pleasant.
- Heaviness
- 3
- Speed
- 5
- Melody
- 3
- Where from
- Europe
- Tempo
- 60-160 bpm
- Song length
- 4-12 min
- Written about
- Politics, explicitly Marxist on the English side, Dread, Language and its failure, Formal experiment as a subject
- Vocals
- Sung
Why this one
| You said | Avant-prog / RIO | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light How much weight do you want behind it? | 3 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| Slow. Let it take its time. What pace? | 5 out of 10 | 60% | ×2 |
| The nineties Does it matter when it was made? | 1978 | 52% | ×1 |
| Anger at something real What should the words be about? | Politics, explicitly Marxist on the English side, Dread, Language and its failure, Formal experiment as a subject | 50% | ×1 |
| No. Texture and force are enough. Do you want a tune you could hum afterwards? | 3 out of 10 | 80% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 69% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 5 answers you gave, weighted heaviness 2, pace 2, era 1, about 1, melody 1 out of 7. Avant-prog / RIO leads the next by 1 point. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King 1969
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King. The first track tells you everything.
- 2The one to put on first
Univers Zero, Univers Zero 1977
Univers Zero - Heresie. Closer to Bartók than to rock.
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Progressive rock, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Avant-prog / RIO's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Post-punk revival 67%
The same basslines and the same chill, revived every ten years with contemporary production.
5 steps from Avant-prog / RIO, meeting it only at Rock.
The way into Post-punk revival -
Britpop 66%
Britain answers grunge with Beatles-and-Kinks melody and lyrics about ordinary English life.
4 steps from Avant-prog / RIO, meeting it only at Rock.
The way into Britpop
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- Light put 12 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Death metal, Brutal death metal, Sludge metal. Worth 2 of 7.
- Slow. Let it take its time. put 22 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Hardcore punk, Black metal, Death metal. Worth 2 of 7.
- The nineties put 23 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Blues rock, Progressive rock, Rock and roll. Worth 1 of 7.
- Anger at something real put 108 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Alternative rock, Black metal, Blues rock. Worth 1 of 7.
- No. Texture and force are enough. put 40 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Folk metal, Folk rock, Emo. Worth 1 of 7.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.