I don't know about "The Best", but Yes are my favorite.
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Best Prog Rock?
- Thread starter Doctor Intrepid
- Start date
Prog is prog. It's not really a genre, it's an approach to music and can incorporate elements of anything. By its nature, it's supposed to grow and to push boundaries. See the difficulty?
drumvsbass
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- Aug 20, 2011
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And after six pages, for shame talkbass, not a mention of one of my least favorite bands, but undeniably awesome...
MAGMA
MAGMA
Of that list, Pink Floyd, with the conditions being: 1) I don't like prog rock, 2) the earlier the Floyd, the better, 3) I don't consider them a hardcore, or pure prog rock band...which is probably why they are my pick here, and 4) even though they are considered a prog rock band, the stuff I like the most of theirs is their least "proggy" stuff.
Starting with The Dark Side of the Moon, their albums start getting pretty bad to me. I don't like them at all past Wish You Were Here. To me, there is a slow and steady decline from the first note of their first album, all the way through their career. They're one of those bands. Yes, you know them. The ones who did not at any time get better from one album to the next – only worse. Same with Jethro Tull. Same with Iron Maiden. The Ramones. The list could go on.
Most of those other bands are near-total sonic garbage to me. Prog rock is really the pits of rock to me. It's too damned adult, mature, well behaved, self-serious, [largely] humorless, etc. And it's funny in that while it was deliberately trying to push boundaries and change music – to be liberal and progressive – it actually comes off as extremely conservative and middle-of-the-road compared to earlier forms of rock music. I'd rather hear hair metal (which I absolutely despise, and which drives me up the wall if I have to hear it).
That said, I dig some King Crimson, and a little bit of ELP, though. And I can tolerate Rush's first album. (And I like The Move, which is the roots of ELO).
Starting with The Dark Side of the Moon, their albums start getting pretty bad to me. I don't like them at all past Wish You Were Here. To me, there is a slow and steady decline from the first note of their first album, all the way through their career. They're one of those bands. Yes, you know them. The ones who did not at any time get better from one album to the next – only worse. Same with Jethro Tull. Same with Iron Maiden. The Ramones. The list could go on.
Most of those other bands are near-total sonic garbage to me. Prog rock is really the pits of rock to me. It's too damned adult, mature, well behaved, self-serious, [largely] humorless, etc. And it's funny in that while it was deliberately trying to push boundaries and change music – to be liberal and progressive – it actually comes off as extremely conservative and middle-of-the-road compared to earlier forms of rock music. I'd rather hear hair metal (which I absolutely despise, and which drives me up the wall if I have to hear it).
That said, I dig some King Crimson, and a little bit of ELP, though. And I can tolerate Rush's first album. (And I like The Move, which is the roots of ELO).
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I understand the remarks about taste; i.e. there is no best because it is subjective. If that is how you see things, then just pick your best (favorite). No harm in that.
I enjoy any of the bands mentioned in the poll listing, but currently my vote goes to Ayreon.
There is simply no denying how shatteringly groundbreaking this album was. It was my vote as well.
I'll add to the honorable mentions list:
Marillion
PFM
Focus
Camel
You can tell how old I am right?
Mugre
Good call on the Porcupine Tree. I was also going to ask about Transatlantic.
Hmm. MIA on the list
Different mindset on that stuff. There’s still a bit of that “solos aren’t cool” thing hungover from the punk/post punk/post rock party line.Isn't it the hip thing nowadays to call it Math Rock?
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I went with Yes as my favorite, but Gentle Giant is a very close second, if not dead even. As much as I love Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, Rush beats them out for 3rd due to longevity--even though for me Rush gradually tapered off after Moving Pictures.
??!!!
Because of your recent Kansas project? I thought for sure of all people you'd put Rush first...
I have yet to check this out but really dig most of their stuff and the other Arjen projects like Star One, which is both nerdy and fun SciFi Prog that has great musicians and is well executed, their live stuff is equally good.
To get a comprehensive list on what is considered Prog, I would suggest looking bands up on this site: Invalid Link Removed
Even I neglected having KC in that list as well as inadvertently leaving out Porcupine Tree from the NeoProg list.
Not to mention all that stuff that I've never really checked out deeply, like Camel, Caravan, Anthony Phillips, Van De Graf Generator - stuff I've heard a bit of but yet to fully explore. Like Nektar said, Remember The Future, but the there so much of this gold in the past.
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Agree, that is one of the two or three definitive and comprehensive sites such as DPRP Net. Great reviews and links to the actual music.
I had mentioned in a previous post that Prog Archives - Invalid Link Removed - was an an excellent resource for all information regarding just about any Prog band you could possibly think of. After doing so I decided to do a rundown of each band listed in the poll to find out how each was categorized. Here are the results:
Rush - Heavy Prog
Pink Floyd - Psychedelic/Space Rock
Genesis - Symphonic Prog
King Crimson - Eclectic Prog
Tool - Experimental/Post Metal
Dream Theatre - Progressive Metal
ELP - Symphonic Prog
ELO - Crossover Prog
Yes - Symphonic Prog
Incidentally, I looked up Steely Dan to see how they might be categorized due to the respect they garner from the advanced musical tastes of most Prog fans, and they were categorized as Jazz Rock/Fusion which I think is reasonable. So look up all of you favorite Prog and Prog related bands and see what everybody else thinks about them.
Also, for all of you Mellotron fans out there, here is another fun site for you: Planet Mellotron
Rush - Heavy Prog
Pink Floyd - Psychedelic/Space Rock
Genesis - Symphonic Prog
King Crimson - Eclectic Prog
Tool - Experimental/Post Metal
Dream Theatre - Progressive Metal
ELP - Symphonic Prog
ELO - Crossover Prog
Yes - Symphonic Prog
Incidentally, I looked up Steely Dan to see how they might be categorized due to the respect they garner from the advanced musical tastes of most Prog fans, and they were categorized as Jazz Rock/Fusion which I think is reasonable. So look up all of you favorite Prog and Prog related bands and see what everybody else thinks about them.
Also, for all of you Mellotron fans out there, here is another fun site for you: Planet Mellotron
