UK – Best in Prog Rock
Wetton / Holdsworth / Bruford / Jobson
(promotional photo copyright 1978 Polydor
no doubt about that – not sure who the photographer was)
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Wow – I loved this band from the first time I heard them back in 1978 ! I still have my original vinyl albums, but now the CDs are still a staple in the van for traveling music best heard at 2am while driving down an interstate highway while sipping a beverage with a strong caffeine content..
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The members have quite the “family tree” in Rock Music. From King Crimson to Frank Zappa to Jethro Tull to Asia to Yes and on and on …
There is a perfect marriage of “pop” songs with amazing technical musicianship.
The three member “core” was rounded out by a fourth member – guitarist Alan Holdsworth (who is Eddie Van Halen’s favorite guitarist as mentioned in a Guitar Player magazine interview back in the day.
This is pop meets progressive rock meets jazz rock – quite a winning combination.
Bruford and Holdsworth left the original group over “musical differences” – which there seems to be a lot of in the music industry ;-) It has always amazed me at how many successful projects never came to be because of egotistical musicians …
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The music business is really a very rewarding business to be in and is quite simple to succeed in – but for the egos and vanity!
Later on when the bassist, John Wetton, was singer with the “supergroup” Asia – there was a rift with the other members because he wanted Asia to remain with more pop songs rather than morph into a pseudo-Yes type content band. I was all for that.
Honestly – the icing on a cake give a real kick, but you must have the cake mostly or the icing is just a bunch of gooey sugar … (let him who has ears, hear)
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Category: Tony Rollo Blog
