Best Prog Rock?

[Btbp]

Yes they were.............then Steve was out, for whatever reasons, that I still don't know. It is quite apparent that Hackett was the real heart of the band (in the pre-pop era).

That's when I jetted. I had disdain for Daryl Stuermer and the way he and Rutherford ripped off Hackett's original style. They weren't the only ones either, I seem to remember Mike Oldfield copping his sound on one album as well. But I do like Oldfield.

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

If they could only get Steve Walsh to join....no one else could quite cut it on Narnia or the others from this like him

 

[Jeff Scott]

Steve's solo music has always been the best. When we saw him last November he did the Spectral Mornings album in its entirety as it was the 40 anniversary of it, then did all of SEBTP, plus "Los Endos".

 

[Jeff Scott]

How about this from some one-album-wonder band?

 

[Btbp]

Like a lot of Prog discussions this is a bit Yes / Crimson / Genesis-heavy, there's a lot more to Prog than that.

Prog bands I’ve heard some of, yet to deeply explore like Caravan, Camel, Riverside, Hatfield and McCoy, VDGG, some Canterbury artists, Tool (though not sure I agree they are what I consider Prog) – there’s so much Classic and now NeoProg out there it’s hard to keep up.

While these are Prog 101 to me they might not be to others:

Pre-Vangelis Vangelis in Aphrodite's Child

Post-Zappa / Post--UK Eddie Jobson’s 80s Prog anomaly Zinc project with the screaming violin solo that could fill a coliseum


The fingerbuster from Pre-Yes Patrick Moraz - Refugee


The Nice’s interpretation of America, which of course Yes also covered

with the two brilliant quotes from Dvorák's New World Symphony

But probably more known for their take on Rondo

Not one for Giant purists perhaps, I am in both camps, but this was something I still like to play along on bass (this is a bass forum after all) - Ray's magnificent tone


And not leave out the Canucks



Thank you Allison Steele The Nightbird for some of these.

 

[mb94952]

Like a lot of Prog discussions this is a bit Yes / Crimson / Genesis-heavy, there's a lot more to Prog than that.

Prog bands I’ve heard some of, yet to deeply explore like Caravan, Camel, Riverside, Hatfield and McCoy, VDGG, some Canterbury artists, Tool (though not sure I agree they are what I consider Prog) – there’s so much Classic and now NeoProg out there it’s hard to keep up.

While these are Prog 101 to me they might not be to others:

Pre-Vangelis Vangelis in Aphrodite's Child

Post-Zappa / Post--UK Eddie Jobson’s 80s Prog anomaly Zinc project with the screaming violin solo that could fill a coliseum


The fingerbuster from Pre-Yes Patrick Moraz - Refugee


The Nice’s interpretation of America, which of course Yes also covered

with the two brilliant quotes from Dvorák's New World Symphony

But probably more known for their take on Rondo

Not one for Giant purists perhaps, I am in both camps, but this was something I still like to play along on bass (this is a bass forum after all) - Ray's magnificent tone


And not leave out the Canucks



Thank you Allison Steele The Nightbird for some of these.

Can't wait to explore these bands tomorrow !!

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

It is now, but it was edited in after many complained. OP didn't see fit to include them so I stand by my opinion.

That's a lie. I did intend to include them, but I accidentally left them off the list. Don't presume you can speak to my intentions.

 

[LBS-bass]

That's a lie. I did intend to include them, but I accidentally left them off the list. Don't presume you can speak to my intentions.

Ok then. No worries! Thanks for clarifying!

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

Ok then. No worries! Thanks for clarifying!

We all make mistakes, such as me not including Yes on the list initially (as well as many other notable bands it seems ...)

 

[jerry]

Steven Wilson.

Such a nice body of work that includes Nick Beggs and Tony Levin. My favorite of the proggers these days.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Get with the prog ram​

Excellent thread. Who topped the pops? Yes? No? I can never decide


Here's another …

​

 

[Michedelic]

Can't wait to explore these bands tomorrow !!

I think Btbp meant to write “Hatfield and the North”; here’s your portal...

“Canterbury” is shorthand for a slew of interrelated bands in one area of the UK; hopefully this will explain it all...

“VDGG” is Van der Graff Generator, possibly the most demanding band of the bunch, but very cathartic...

 

[Tom Bomb]

​

 

[Bob_Ross]

Going to a prog rock concert still looks like a celibate-middle-aged dude convention.

LOL! When I saw King Crimson during their 2018 (? or maybe it was 2017?) tour I made the observation that this was the first time I'd ever seen the line for the mens' bathroom longer than the line for the ladies' !

 

[lordradish]

LOL! When I saw King Crimson during their 2018 (? or maybe it was 2017?) tour I made the observation that this was the first time I'd ever seen the line for the mens' bathroom longer than the line for the ladies' !

When I saw Yes on the Masterworks tour in '01, I had the same experience.

 

[lordradish]

Since this has morphed into a prog thread... anyone here think that a lot of neo-prog still sounds tainted by the 80's? I know they're not big anymore, but I remember thinking that about Spock's Beard, and it's why I can't stomach Dream Theater. There's something about the vocals and some of the guitar and production in neo-prog that sounds straight outa 90125 or some hair band. Anything that Billy Sherwood seems to be involved in has that sheen, too. I've always been of the classic prog mindset. The genre just stopped appealing to me when the big 80's sell-out happened.

Of course, I fully expect a tirade of arrows coming my way after this one. I've just seen the 80's as the decade where music got crappy and it really tainted the prog genre in ways I don't like.

All just taste and opinions, though, your mileage may vary.

 

[lordradish]

Agree, and yet "In The Air Tonight" is considered one of the great drum fills of all time.
A Trick Of The Tail is still some of my favorite of Phil's work and Genesis' material in general.
On a side note I went to see the tribute band The Magical Box last year and they were fantastic. If you are a fan of Genesis see them if you get a chance.

I make sure I see the Musical Box every time they come near me. I normally loathe tribute bands, but damn, they're something to see.

 

[lordradish]

Agreement from here. I hold the heretical position that TotT and W&W are their two best albums.

I hold the incredibly heretical position that the version of Supper's Ready on Seconds Out is the best one. The band is just so powerful, and Collins nails it.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Since this has morphed into a prog thread... anyone here think that a lot of neo-prog still sounds tainted by the 80's? I know they're not big anymore, but I remember thinking that about Spock's Beard, and it's why I can't stomach Dream Theater. There's something about the vocals and some of the guitar and production in neo-prog that sounds straight outa 90125. Anything that Billy Sherwood seems to be involved in has that sheen, too. I've always been of the classic prog mindset. The genre just stopped appealing to me when the big 80's sell-out happened.

Of course, I fully expect a tirade of arrows coming my way after this one. I've just seen the 80's as the decade where music got crappy and it really tainted the prog genre in ways I don't like.

All just taste and opinions, though, your mileage may vary.

I hear ya. I made a similar observation a while back on TB (I’m on my phone, otherwise I’d dig up a link to the thread) where I wondered aloud “Where would prog-rock be in the 21st century if heavy metal had never happened?”

There are some really good bands around that are clearly still carrying the torch that was lit in prog’s 1970s heyday...and yet ALL of them seem to incorporate a healthy dose of head-banging triple-rectified down-tuned crunch riffage, a sound/style that would have been unthinkable prior to the MTV hair band era of heavy metal.

In small doses I kinda dig it. But it doesn’t take a lot for me to write it off as a cheap shortcut, an easy out, a cliche.

So I often long for a hypothetical Rip Van Winkle prog band to come out of their 40+ year coma and start making music like they had NEVER heard Whitesnake.

 

[lordradish]

I hear ya. I made a similar observation a while back on TB (I’m on my phone, otherwise I’d dig up a link to the thread) where I wondered aloud “Where would prog-rock be in the 21st century if heavy metal had never happened?”

There are some really good bands around that are clearly still carrying the torch that was lit in prog’s 1970s heyday...and yet ALL of them seem to incorporate a healthy dose of head-banging triple-rectified down-tuned crunch riffage, a sound/style that would have been unthinkable prior to the MTV hair band era of heavy metal.

In small doses I kinda dig it. But it doesn’t take a lot for me to write it off as a cheap shortcut, an easy out, a cliche.

So I often long for a hypothetical Rip Van Winkle prog band to come out of their 40+ year coma and start making music like they had NEVER heard Whitesnake.

I hear ya on that. I would say, though, that as much as I love classic prog (it's really the only rock I like a lot), I kind of like it as an era, a particular style of a particular time. Just as I'm not interested in the subtle and not-so-metal stylings of neo-prog, I don't really have any interest in hearing a new prog band sound like something from the 70's, either, as that would be regressive, not progressive. I'm kinda happy with all the great stuff from 70-77, and I'm still learning about bands from that era. I don't really have a longing for any form of new progressive rock, as I'm more or less not interested in rock, as a genre, anymore.

 

[roccobass]

I'm glad that this thread has morphed more into an educational and celebratory space. I know I now have many bands I now must become better acquainted with.

I agree. Initially, I was concerned with some artists being left off, but this thread has probably accomplished far than what was intended. Thanks to everyone who provided YouTube links so I myself could check them all out right then.