I was just listening to, and burning some CDs for work when I heard "Time and a Word." I started thinking about some of the prog rock I have, but wondered what I should have that I don't have...
I used to be a real maven on the subject-I've aged and gone in different directions. I can, however, give u some ideas:
Yes-Close to the Edge and Topographic Oceans (Latter is a controversial choice as many hate it) Genesis-Selling England (A killer great work) ELP-Tarkus (Most would say Brain Salad) Hawkwind-Space Ritual (Trust me, it's an original. By the way, "do not panic".) Pink Floyd-Meddle Tull-Thick as a Brick (It's progressive, I guess, but more in the "art" camp)
Old Faves: Jethro Tull - "Heavy Horses", a (mostly) acoustic masterpiece! Todd Rundgren's "Utopia" (1st album with the eye cover) King Crimson - Most any, but "Lark's Tongues in Aspic" (with Bill Bruford drumming!) and "Islands" are personal favorites.
New faves: THE FLOWER KINGS - Don't mind the name, these guys from Sweden are incredible! Yes, you can find references to ELP, YES, Crimson, and Genesis all over the place, but they are also quite original. "Stardust We Are" is possibly one of the top 10 prog rock double albums of all time, and "Rainmaker" is also great, with a little heavier metal emphasis. (I use a track from that album - "Road to Sanctuary" - to demo my system - decently recorded, with well recorded classical and acostic guitars and a vocal in the middle section that comes from the extreme right and waaaay back in the soundstage).
I'll strongly 2nd the PORCUPINE TREE recommendation by Tvad.
KEVIN GILBERT "The Shaming of the True" a truly incredible piece of work, a prog concept masterpiece, worth hunting down. Also see "Toy Matinee" and "Thud"
Ambrosia's first. King Crimson. "In The Court Of The Crimson King". Tangerine Dream. Anything from the 70"s and 80's, but the best is "LOGOS Live"! Nektar's "A Tab In The Ocean" and "Remember The Future". Synergy. "Electronic Realizations For Rock Orchestra" I'm showing my age with these picks.
In the Court of the Crimson King Close to the Edge In Search of the Lost Chord Tarkus Foxtrot "L" Lark's Tongue in Aspic Starless and Bible Black Gentle Giant The Aerosol Grey Machine OK Computer Kid A
King Crimson-Starless and Bible Black (heavy) King Crimson-Larks Tongues (really heavy) Strawbs-Hero and Heroine (folky elements in this band add character to the prog feel) Eno-Another Green World (really more "ambient" than prog) Moodies-Question of Balance Nektar-Remember the Future
Thanks to Lindisfarne for adding "Tales from Topographic Oceans" to the list. I honestly haven't listened to the thing in years -- I don't even own it at present -- but as soon as I saw the topic, it was the first record that strang to mind. It's astonishingly self-indulgent throughout -- what prog rock wasn't -- but there are moments of nearly unparalleled beauty to be found therein. I once had the great good pleasure of hearing them play some of it live (and outdoors) way back in the 1970s, and just recalling that night can bring a smile. I'm gonna go look around on eBay for a vinyl copy right now. Thanks for the notion.
I was a big Budgie fan back in the mid-70's. I never could figure out why they weren't more popular in the US. Bandolier is probably my favorite, followed by Squawk and Never Turn Your Back on a Friend.
In addition to many listed: Camel - all of their stuff Illusion - " " (Illusion is the original Rennaisance so you should also check out the first 2 Rennaisance albums before Annie Haslam and co)
That's the 70's stuff, some more current acts include:
http://www.progressiveears.com/ This will lead you into The Current and Past World of Progressive Rock.Its still going very strong,Bigger now than in the 70's.Check the Forum and links for Music dealers,Tours[Nektar is coming this year]Nektar has 2 outstanding current DVD videos out. and Prog Internet Radio Stations.Porcupine Tree live DVD "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" is out now.A few old fav's are The Ultimate"Tarkus",Genesis-The Lamb,Lots of Jethro Tull,Nektar-Tab in the Ocean[Any lp actually] and of course Eloy-Ocean[A classic concept album] and Live.The MAIN more recent Prog album's everyone should have are from a Band in Sweden called ANGLAGARD.They released 2 studio albums on cd and lp in the 90's Hybris and Epilog and a live cd,Buried alive.All out of print collectors albums now.Hybris lp $160 up.The Band is broken up now and there is an online petition[Thousands of signatures]for them to release recordings they did at a US Festival.Their 2 Studio albums are Absolute Masterpieces,Mellatron soaked,Outstanding Musicians.If you think King Crimson LP's are great then......Step up a level or two.
OH MY GOSH so many prog rockers! I've got 'em all... You're missing:
Happy the Man - two LP's from late 70's BETTER than G.G. Jade Warrior (the four Island pressings from '74-78) Brand X - Unorthodox Behavior, Morrocan Roll and Livestock Bill Bruford's solos - specifically One of a Kind Steve Hackett solos - spec. Spectral Mornings and Defector UK - 1st one and Live PFM - Jet lag my favorite Allan Holdsworth solos - jazz fusion or prog?? hard to say same goes for Jeff Beck - Wired and Blow by Blow Guru Guru Pierre Moerlin's Gong - (ok I see somebody else mentioned Gong) Anthony Phillips - Geese and the Ghost is best Vangelis - China is my favorite Supertramp - Crisis, what Crisis? I'll consider them in the prog. camp Matching Mole
To all you Genesis, Gentle Giant, Renaissance, Camel, Yes (WELL OF COURSE YES!)King K. et all fans, I salute you.
How to tell a true prog. rock vinyl audiophile: 1. Owns 1st edition UK pressings (red and plum Atlantic) of Fragile and The Yes Album 2. Owns original UK 1st pressing Island pink "eye" pressing of Tull's Stand UP 3. Owns MoFi pressings of Aqualung, Close to the Edge, Scherazade(spelling??), Crime of the Century, DSOM, Trick of the Tale, Alan Parson's "Tales...Poe", I Robot, Trilogy, Tarkus, and ?? any I forgot.
My prefernces fall pretty much inline with Super_Agent_86- No prog collection would be complete without good represntation of the Canterbury bands, esp. Hatfield & the North, Caravan, Camel, Gryphon, Matching Mole, Henry Cow, Happy the Man, National Health and Soft Machine.
WOW Caterham!!! I forgot to mention Robert Wyatt legacy. Matching Mole and so on. How about "Rudy Is Stranger Than Richard", "Rock Bottom" and "Shleep"? True gems!!!!!!!!!
Where's Ken Golden ? (he's posted here before). Nice to see Guru Guru and Budgie listed. A vast range of stuff gets labled as prog rock. If you're coming from Yes/Time and a Word. You might like Finnforest, Ragnarok (the Swedish band), PFM (Per un Amico) or early Gryphon. There's an icredible amount of mind altering rock influenced music from A.D.D. Trio to Zu that's worth checking out. It's time to quit your job and get to it.
anybody digs on CAN prog-dudes?? i like their every single album they've ever created and also solo albums of its members as well. i have the whole Expedit(bookshelf from IKEA) "cell" filled with CAN!!
I'd add: Badger, One Live Badger PFM, PFM (from Italy!?!) Split Enz, Mental Notes, Disrythmia and my personal favorite late period obscure but terrific prog rock band: Polyrock - Robertson brothers on guitars and guest player Phillip Glass on keyboards.
All right! I'm jumpin' in! A lot of the older, original groups have been listed already. My fave-o-rite NEW prog-rock group? Porcupine Tree!! Gonna see 'em 2 days in a row next month. For some *obscure* prog-rock, check out Symphonic Slam with Timo Laine and his 6 string polyphonic synthesizer - awesome!
Hey Lindisfarne, I also have the original Lindisfarne album - bought it solely because I LOVED the cover!
One other group I have not seen mentioned is Starcastle, they had several fairly popular albums back in the early 70s.
Mike Oldfield - can't have a list w/o him. All of his are worth having. Robert Wyatt - we have Soft Machine and Matching Mole, but his solo stuff beats both, and the recordings are more "audiophile quality" - Super_agent_86 mentioned his solo works but it deserves emphasis.
Also more current - Mostly Autumn - for fans of Rennaisance and Illusion - also a little bit of Pink Floyd in there Bjorn Lynn - heavy Synth work
No one mentioned Santana yet...or Roxy music.. or 10cc ....but I'd include them in prog rock IMHO...although may be I am stretching the boundaries. For me Art rock is part of prog rock. I would not count the Cars as prog rock.....but then again....how do you draw the line?
I would not include 10CC, T Rex, Tommy Bolin, Roxy Music, or Santana. Where do you draw the line? Interesting question but if you take any of the agreed upon progressive bands i.e. King Crimson, ELP, Yes, Genesis (with Gabriel) and compare any of the work to "Bang a Gong", "Black Magic Woman", "Love is the Drug", or "The Things We Do For Love", that's where I draw the line.
I grew up on Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Camel, etc. Current artists of interest: Porcupine Tree ('In Absentia,' 'Deadwing'), The Pineapple Thief ('Variations On a Dream'), Transatlantic ('S.M.P.T.E,' 'Bridge Across Forever').
www.progarchives.com is a good place to read listener reviews.
then...Uriah Heep, Demons & Wizards, you guys nailed everything else nicely. I can still listen to the 1st ELP disc today unlike much of the stuff already mentioned including the Heep.
All the above (except the Cars) plus a few more I have in my collection:
Egg Henry Cow Slapp Happy The Nice Van der Graaf Generator (alluded to by Audiofeil) Procol Harum The Enid Osanna Kansas Spocks Beard Liquid Tension Experiment Mars Volta
and a few who are maybe classified as Prog Jazz or Fusion but I feel can be concidered Prog Rock:
Dixie Dregs Mahavishnu Orchestra Jean-Luc Ponty Return To Forever
I think someone needs to define Progresive Rock. I always felt it was when other elements or styles of music were introduced to Rock n Roll. Example side two of King Crimson's Lizard or Moody Blues Days of Futures past.
Also the term progressive rock was coined in response to groups that started to write longer songs which allowed the musicians to play solo's on their instruments. Kind of like Rock n Roll's response to improvisation in jazz.
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