Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era

A great 5cd box which was still sealed and then in Mint condition.A cd box I have been looking for for some years, and its great to have in my collection.Fast delivery from a serious seller. ++++++++

I love it

I was getting into prog-rock in a big way right around the time this boxed set came out, so I immediately bought a copy. I found it to be a useful sampler of early progressive rock bands. Yes, one could argue that some of the biggest names and most influential bands are missing, but Rhino did the best they could with what the music they had access to. Prog rock fans tend to be overly-opinionated, so there will always be arguments that this song should have been included, or that song shouldn't have been included...heck, you'll never even get two progressive rock fans to agree on what "progressive rock" is, so I don't envy the person who had to pick the track listing for this box.Personally, I'm glad the set isn't just well known tracks by top selling bands, because I already own most of the albums by those bands anyway, so their absence leaves more room on the discs for obscure music that I hadn't heard before. In fact, I'm slightly annoyed that some of the big name bands (for example Yes and Genesis) get multiple tracks when that space seems like it could have been put to better use by featuring more lesser known bands. But I guess Rhino wanted some hits and known band names to help boost sales to casual music fans. It's also annoying that the set makes it seem like progressive rock is something that just stopped in the late 70s. I'd love to see Rhino put together a follow-up box that tracks prog-rock of the 80s, 90s and beyond.Bottom line is that this is an enjoyable boxed set, and I found it very helpful in terms of giving me leads on what bands I should persue further (and which ones I shouldn't waste money on). I'm listening to the box right now for the first time in years, and it still stands up as a great collection of music. It'll drive the sort of people who watch American Idol right out of the room, but anyone who likes interesting music should enjoy it. Come to think of it, driving away American Idol fans should be considered a bonus feature.I wouldn't pay an arm and a leg for the set, but if you're a fan of the genre and can find it for a decent price, it's worth picking up.Oh, and the track listing for disc 4 isn't quite right - the set lists track 2 as "Siberian Khatru" by Yes, but it's actually another song from the Close to the Edge album, "And You And I". Oddly though, they decided to fade the song out less than a minute before it normally ends - almost like they had reserved enough space on the disc for Siberian Khatru then made a last minute decision to change the song, but had to fade it out to make it fit. Kind of puzzling. I've seen a couple sites list that track as an alternate studio version of "And You and I", but it's not - it's just the standard version faded out a little early. Not a big deal - anyone who's a progressive rock fan will probably already own a copy of Close to the Edge anyway.

As a long-time progressive rock fan, I already own most of this stuff and as such, did not find the set particularly enlightening. Admittedly however, there were a few pleasant surprises including the unreleased track by electronica giant Klaus Schulze and the appearance of the hard rock group Wishbone Ash and a few other bands that I did not think fit under the progressive rock umbrella (and that I now enjoy very much). Regardless however, I do feel that for the prog "newbie", the set is somewhat misleading in that it delves far too deeply into styles related to progressive rock. I also wish that the compilers had restricted their coverage to the 1971 to 1976 timeframe, which was essentially the "golden age" of progressive rock.Most (not all) musicologists define progressive rock through the work of the English symphonic progressive rock groups. In this regard, Yes, Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant, Curved Air, Renaissance and Van der graaf Generator are represented on this box set. King Crimson, Jethro Tull and Camel were not included, yet are very much part of the English progressive rock scene (evidently, Rhino experienced licensing problems). Of these groups, the absence of King Crimson on a box set (ostensibly) devoted to progressive rock is pretty bad. I say "pretty bad" because it was their 1969 debut In the Court of the Crimson King that signaled the emergence of progressive rock as a distinct genre and was an extraordinarily influential album.A number of musical styles related to progressive rock are, however, well-represented, which is a nice aspect of this box set. Progressive rock was, above all else, highly eclectic and borrowed from these related styles to varying degrees. In this regard, alongside tracks from the classic English progressive rock bands, examples of proto-progressive (The Nice/Moody Blues), psychedelic rock (Pretty Things), hard rock (Wishbone Ash/Argent), acid/space rock (Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come), Rock in Opposition (Henry Cow), Chamber progressive (Magma), Electronica (Klaus Schulze), British symphonic pop (Electric Light Orchestra), progressive folk rock (Strawbs), Krautrock (Amon Duul II/Can/Faust) and Canterbury Rock (Hatfield and the North/Caravan/Gong/Quiet Sun) are represented, in addition to other styles.There are other positive aspects to the box set including the fact that it points out the very real differences between the stylistic/compositional approach of the classic English symphonic prog bands and those groups that placed greater emphasis on styles such as blues, hard rock, jazz, and the European avant-garde. Another plus is the inclusion of some of the lesser-known continental European progressive rock groups (particularly the Italian groups). My favorite "lesser known" groups include Banco, PFM, Focus, Wigwam and Le Orme. Finally, the compilers did have the sense to pick the best albums from each band, although the track selection did not seem too carefully thought out.As far as the box set itself goes, the sound quality is OK and the booklet features photos/informational blurbs for each band, along with liner notes. Unfortunately, the introductory essay was not particularly insightful and really should have focused on providing the reader with an overview of the English progressive rock style and discussed the approach to composition, the artwork and lyrics etc. In short, those properties that made the genre distinct. These properties could then have been contrasted with those associated with the related styles.Overall, as a hardcore prog fan, I already owned most of this stuff so I was not too bowled over by this box set. However, it is one of the best compilations out there and should prove to be indispensable to the new prog fan - even though it is pretty expensive and a bit of a mess. Ultimately, this set will help folks explore progressive rock and the related styles and decide for themselves what they like the best. Fortunately for me, I love all of this stuff.