Best Prog Rock?

[Michedelic]

The Big Four:

- Gentle Giant

- Genesis

- Yes

- King Crimson

Floyd is awesome, but I don't consider them prog.

This is the correct answer. Finally, after 176 posts.

Why just four? While I’d agree that Floyd is not prog(born of psychedelia, after many stylistic twists and turns they became their own animal), without any representation of the Canterbury scene(Soft Machine being the obvious choice if you have to pick just one)it’s an incomplete list.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Okay, this one wins the thread. FYI - Next Hackett tour is the entire Seconds Out album. Can't wait.

We recently saw Steve when he came to town to do SEBTP! Loved it. Brought me back to the days of seeing Genesis do it in the Fall of 1973 (the second time I saw Genesis).

 

[Btbp]

Quite possibly my favorite Genesis song.

While I'm not one for favourites, among them would be One For The Vine or the Seconds Out version of The Cinema Show, with the astounding percussion battle of Bruford and Collins, or the Seconds Out version of Supper's Ready with Hackett's unparalleled lyrical phrasing and Rutherford's bass and Taurus pedal work.

And Gabriel was certainly one of Prog's architects, his contributions go deep and wide.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...the Seconds Out version of The Cinema Show, with the astounding percussion battle of Bruford and Collins...

Was that Bruford? I thought by that album that it would have been Chester.

 

[mb94952]

Long live RUSH. YES always makes the list, along with Bruford, etc. The rest of the list is so commercial, FM radio thinking. ELO ? C'mon man. Might as well say Jethro Tull.
There are SOOOOoooo many prog bands that are unbelievably amazing. Youtube has some of them. Some of them we will never hear of. Others are Umphrey's McGee, Porcupine Tree, Allan Holdsworth and the six degrees of Holdsworth, does Jazz Fusion count as prog ? It does to me, so again, the list of the "best" is how I'm feeling today and where and how fast I'm driving.

 

[evil dewars]

OK. Seconds Out just jumped to the top of my playlist.

Also Protest the Hero,Tortoise and Black Midi might be considered prog rock, that cool prog band db said so.

 

[Jim622]

Long live RUSH. The rest of the list is so commercial, FM radio thinking. YES always makes the list. ELO ? C'mon man. Might as well say Jethro Tull.
There are SOOOOoooo many prog bands that are unbelievably amazing. Youtube has some of them. Some of them we will never hear of. Others are Umphrey's McGee, Porcupine Tree, Allan Holdsworth and the six degrees of Holdsworth, does Jazz Fusion count as prog ? It does to me, so again, the list of the "best" is how I'm feeling today and where and how fast I'm driving.

I like Umphreys McGee a lot, but I don't know about progressive. Jam band.

 

[mb94952]

I like Umphrey's McGee a lot, but I don't know about progressive. Jam band.

Umphrey's McGee is total prog, to ME, from what I understand prog to mean. Jam band doesn't mean not-prog. Hence this list is flawed if our definition is different. Just like I would never call Pink Floyd a prog band.

 

[Btbp]

In other words, even though they didn't scale new artistic heights in the 80's, they didn't do the dumbed-down sell out that just about every other great 70's band did in the 80's.

Exactly, unlike some either spotty or altogether embarrassing efforts by otherwise premier acts like Renaissance, Yes and ELP, to name a few. Those 80s haircuts and styles just didn't look right on them. Camera Camera, Don't Kill The Whales, Love Beach, anyone?

Meanwhile King Crimson, Gabriel, and (not Prog) Talking Heads and Paul Simon, etc. successfully rode the Africana wave that many others did at the time.

Cool - as I was typing this they just played Spirit Of Radio on the commercial lead out for the DB-Seattle game.

 

[mb94952]

Let's just face it - RUSH will always be the kings. Everyone else is just conversation.

 

[lordradish]

We recently saw Steve when he came to town to do SEBTP! Loved it. Brought me back to the days of seeing Genesis do it in the Fall of 1973 (the second time I saw Genesis).

Yeah, I saw it in Boston. Amazing.

 

[Btbp]

I like Umphreys McGee a lot, but I don't know about progressive. Jam band.

Same here, and agree, and why I didn't list Terrapin Station here (song not the band), which is kinda Proggy. Otherwise a whole slew of bands like that, Steve Kimmock, String Cheese, Widespread Panic, etc. are in a way separate category for me. Same as for acts like Snarky Puppy. Progressive for sure but not Prog.

I like the Pornography analogy made earlier. Having said that, at some point categorisation becomes subjective.

 

[jamro217]

Just to illustrate a point, the band Stories was best known for their version of "Brother Louie". This song was a late addition to their second LP and wasn't on the initial pressing. Bassist Kenny Aaronson was brought in shortly before the recording and his inspired playing was buried in the mix by skittish producers, along with departed founder Michael Brown's piano work. The band's material was not exactly radio fare and the following LP (Travelling Underground) could be described as prog. They were torn between staying true to their musical vision and pleasing their record label by dishing out commercially viable pop drivel. The single from Traveling Underground was a cover of "Mammy Blue", which mimicked the style of "Brother Louie". Proof that talented musicians can indeed polish a turd.



My choice for best Prog band is Italy's PFM. Japanese group Casiopea has my vote for best fusion band.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...does Jazz Fusion count as prog ?

Depends, but yes, it can.

This is a recording from the jazz fusion band I was in years ago. Would you consider this prog? I can't say, as I am too close to this music to be objective about that.

 

[Btbp]

If you ask me, Fusion, which I too delved in deeply post-Prog (late 70s-early 80s), is Not Prog.

I'm talking Mahavishnu Orchestra, RTF, Bruford Band, Brand X, Weather Report, The Jan Hammer Group, etc. all which were highly progressive but not what I'd ever call Prog and certainly not by its full name, Progressive Rock.

 

[Mark White]

Porcupine Tree

As someone who grew up on Yes, went through a Gong phase, have always enjoyed Pink Floyd, rank Radiohead highly, and generally enjoy anything post-rock, I only discovered Porcupine Tree last week and appear to have played In Absentia nine times, and am on my second back-to-back listen this morning.

Highly recommended

 

[Jim622]

Umphrey's McGee is total prog, to ME, from what I understand prog to mean. Jam band doesn't mean not-prog. Hence this list is flawed if our definition is different. Just like I would never call Pink Floyd a prog band.

I agree about PF. Jam Bands do seem to blur the thread a little. Umphrees, Wide Spread Panic, Jimmy Herring,.....I'm so confused

 

[mb94952]

Depends, but yes, it can.

This is a recording from the jazz fusion band I was in years ago. Would you consider this prog? I can't say, as I am too close to this music to be objective about that.

Listened to the whole thing loudly on my UE speaker. Love the climbing in 3rds. Always cool sounding.

 

[Btbp]

Atlanta Rhythm Section? Err, wot?

That being said, you did mention the Moody Blues where I don’t think anyone else had. That raises a point, in the realm of barroom arguments along the lines of “first true rock and roll song”, “first metal band”, “first true punk band/album”, and so on. There’s always a tipping point, and some would argue that the Moodies were it, if not actually being the first to represent the genre, before Crimson. Even though not the first to use a Mellotron, they were the ones to bring it to the forefront(of course it helped that MB keyboardist Mike Pinder was involved in the development of it). I personally could see it either way, but I was surprised that they hadn’t been name checked otherwise. The earliest Genesis material(produced by Jonathan King)was under their influence.
THEN...another conspicuous in its absence item would be no mention of German bands(someone did come up with Triumvirat, but I never heard them as being all that original, just ELP wannabes). One band who WAS original was Amon Duul, primarily the second version, but they(and others)get tagged as “krautrock”, which is just lazy thinking. What krautrock means to me is something far more minimal, an actual antithesis to chapter and verse prog. Amon Duul were pretty out there, confrontational, you could sometimes hear strains of Zappa. And speaking of ‘out there’, there’s Tangerine Dream, but once again they get marginalized into not only krautrock, but the separate but equal genre of space rock, where you might find Hawkwind, sometimes even Floyd. But then again, TD was more space than rock.

^^Also this.
Late reply but didn’t want to further monopolize the thread, but yes, the Moodys, and The Beatles with Sgt. Pepper’s, and The Nice were probably the first Prog bands and predate King Crimson who many consider the first true Prog band. No The Beatles are not a Prog group… And I somehow forgot The Strawbs which someone mentioned.

I only didn’t mention The Moodys, Yes, Giant, because they were already mentioned and to me no brainers. And while more mainstream, I would think like Turn Of A Friendly Card makes The Alan Parsons Project a Prog band.

I do however disagree with Floyd not being a Prog band albeit one that came from Psychedelic and Art Rock roots; Wish You Were Here will always be Prog to me, especially that epic that is Shine On.

Was glad to see Triumvirat (no ‘e’) mentioned, because as derivative as they were, they were really good compositionally and technically on their own. Big fan.

I didn’t vote BTW, pointless to do so, the list is too flawed as are most lists or anything with “best” in the title.

 

[Ric Vice]

This is, however!

Yes! I have everything they ever recorded and saw them on In Concert when it aired live. They were the equivalent of Yes and Genesis. IME IMHO.