Steve Pettengill
 

 

Contact Info:
ICQ #132728756
 
 

Last Updated: October 2001
 

         About Me…
 

When I was in high school, I was a terrible metal head.  Think Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and you’re getting close!  My favorite classic metal band has always been Deep Purple but I’ve always loved Black Sabbath as well.  As for Led Zeppelin, I liked them, but I’ve always felt their recordings were a bit overrated.  I was also into The New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and I’m still enamored with Judas Priest and Iron Maiden!  Unfortunately, I graduated from high school at the same time that poseur hair bands were dominating the music scene-Motley Crue, Poison and Bon Jovi dominated the airwaves, and time has shown how musically inadequate and silly these “musicians” were.  Probably even more hurtful is the fact that the onslaught of hair bands made all heavy metal seem like bad music…

At the same time that I was listening to Priest, I also discovered Pink Floyd, ELP and Jethro Tull.  I didn’t realize that there was a genre of music called progressive rock; I just thought of these bands as classic rock.  Shortly after high school, I began hearing about Yes and Genesis as being “art rock” bands.  I always assumed they were pop rock bands, but on a whim I picked up The Yes Album and Foxtrot and instantly fell in love with their thoughtful arrangements and surreal lyrical imagery.  Every time I listened to these albums, I discovered something different.  Naturally I gobbled up both bands’ back catalogues and even gave their pop records a second glance.  From there, I learned about King Crimson and Procol Harum.

I stumbled across a mail order progressive rock catalog through Goldmine magazine nearly 10 years ago, and I began to hear of all sorts of bands with unpronounceable names.  Museo Rosenbach, Ange, Le Orme, Premiata Forneria Marconi, etc.  I figured these bands must really suck since I’d never heard of them.  After giving them a shot, I couldn’t believe that they could hold their own against Genesis, ELP or Yes.  I’ve been an addict ever since.  Of course, I also got into Marillion, IQ, Pendragon and Pallas.  Just as exciting was the melding of metal and prog with bands such as Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Symphony X, and The Gathering leading the way.  In fact, I believe that heavy metal is just as good as it ever was, with so many European metal bands embellishing their heavy sounds with symphonic keyboards.  Intellectual metal is back!

Just to show some readers that I’m reasonably sane, I think Tool is amazing as are Radiohead.  If you don’t think these bands are prog, then you haven’t really taken the time to listen!   Tori Amos, Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel are also great songwriters that dance on the periphery of progressive rock.  So there you have it!
 
 

Geographical location: New Hampshire

DOB: 12/30/69

Enjoy these styles and musical qualities: symphonic rock, neoprog, progmetal, Canterbury, some space rock and some Kraut Rock.  Just about anything from Italy or Spain will do me.

Other styles/genres/bands that I like not listed above:  early Chicago (Terry Kath was a phenomenal guitarist), Love - perhaps the most under appreciated 60’s band ever, David Bowie, Tool, Staind, Radiohead, Rainbow, Blackmore’s Night, Gillan, Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, Savatage, Queen, Traffic.  Starting to enjoy some hip hop and dance grooves; Massive Attack are pretty great.

Favorite or Well Respected Bands/Artists: Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes, Camel, Marillion, Le Orme, Banco, Museo Rosenbach, Ange, IQ, Caravan, Symphony X, Dream Theater, Nektar, Grobschnitt, Peter Hammill.  Too many to list here!

Dislikes these styles/musical Qualities: boy/girl bands, in your face rap metal such as Limp Bizkit and Korn.  Generally, I don’t like bands or singers that are based on image and good looks over musical talent.  Sure, Britney and Christina look great half naked on stage but I don’t think they will leave an enduring musical legacy.

Musical Styles or Qualities I Do Not Like:  as much as I enjoy the more noted neoprog bands, there’s way too many trying to milk the Marillion sound.  I don’t know how anyone can listen to Asgard without cringing at the embarrassing Fishisms and poorly conceived lyrics.  I can’t get into much of the RIO stuff; I like my music melodic.  I can’t stand complexity for complexity’s sake.  I’m starting to dig Zeuhl music though; Magma Live kicks ass.

Occupation-I’m a part time student, hoping to return full time in the spring.  I’m more or less majoring in English.  My goal is to get the hell out of Northern New England; it’s not exactly the cultural mecca of the world.  I also work in a restaurant.

Other Musical Activities-I have a Roland XP-50 gathering dust in a spare bedroom.  I take it out and fiddle with it on occasion.  I can almost play the mellotron intro to Watcher of the Skies (whoo hoo)

Hobbies/Other Obsessions: Aside from music, I’m a film nut.  As with music, I’m not into the box office mega hits and I’d rather travel 2 hours to Boston to catch a foreign/art flick than the latest Adam Sandler.  Some of my favorite directors are Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa and Billy Wilder.   But my absolute favorite film of all time is Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre. (Runner up is This is Spinal Tap) You haven’t lived until you’ve seen this one.  I’m also a B Movie junkie, a Hong Kong action freak, a European horror fan and a sucker for a great romance.  Reading is essential.  I like to cook when the mood strikes, and I travel as frequently as possible.  A semester abroad in Spain is in the works.

Other comments: It goes to eleven.