The Prog Rock Thread

[Moniker]

Recently been getting back into progressive rock, especially the emotional-investment variety. Mainly listening to my golden oldies, but hopefully are other things that fit the bill. I want something like:

Genesis: Peter Gabriel Trilogy. Particularly 'Selling England by the Pound' and 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Pt. 1'
Bowie: Berlin Trilogy, particularly 'Low.'
Emerson Lake & Palmer: Eponymous.
King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King
Can - Tago Mago (pushing the definition, but whatevs)

Never really liked Jethro Tull - too flashy, or Steely Dan - too jazzy. Should probably listen to some Moody Blues, but never really got into 'em.

Got some favorites? Put 'em down!

[President_Obama]

ELP's Tarkus, Trilogy and Pictures At An Exhbition were pretty much the soundtrack to my childhood.

[blackoak]

Have you tried PFM? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premiata_Forneria_Marconi

"Per un Amico" and "L'isola di Niente" both have that pastoral, "symphonic" sound that reminds me of the classic Genesis albums you mentioned. Not understanding Italian takes a big dimension away from it though, especially when compared with something as lyrically sophisticated as Selling England by the Pound.

Yes was always my favorite, but no doubt you've heard them (and they don't quite match the mood of what you listed, maybe The Yes Album to an extent). You might like Camel, but they're a little uneven imo. No standout album, but good stuff spread across The Snow Goose, Moonmadness, and Mirage.

I played in a prog rock band for 7-8 years actually, recorded a couple albums. Very influenced by Genesis, Yes, King Crimson. I'll upload something to the thread later maybe.

[blackoak]

Oh, and if you haven't heard it, Steve Hackett's solo album Voyage of the Acolyte has some amazing stuff on it (Ace of Wands in particular). I think all of Genesis played on it, minus Peter Gabriel.

[antron]

Gentle Giant
Phish
Frank Zappa
Jeff Beck
Premiata Forneria Marconi (I haven't listened to very much of this but I liked it a lot)
Wolf People

[KAI]

Exhivision and Yajuh-Ohkoku are fantastic, Namba & Co. are monsters.

[BulletMagnet]

Big Genesis fan here: mind you, I like a fair chunk of the Phil Collins stuff too (yeah, I know), but yeah, the Gabriel era is what really defines the band for me. I especially love the story of the record guy who sent people to follow the band around to see if they got into any sort of trouble - apparently, when he eventually called them in and told them about it, he said something to the effect of "four of those men have died of boredom, and the fifth is in a coma." Which is especially interesting because of how thematically weird some of their stuff was, I'm sure lots of people figured they must be on some substance or other; guess they were just oddballs to the core, which I have to admire. It also amazes me that originally the members planned to just be songwriters who'd have others play their songs, but were unable to find anyone willing and ended up performing it themselves out of necessity; not that you'd know from listening.

One item I tend to disagree with most fans on are the first handful of albums; lots of people seem to view Trespass's "The Knife" as their first truly "successful" song, and maintain that they didn't really hit their stride until a few albums in; personally, "Knife" is probably my least favorite song on that album (not terrible, but I'd call it the least distinctive if nothing else), and moreover I'd call their next record, Nursery Cryme, the point at which they hit their stride. I also can't help but be amused at how "hippie-dippie" some of their really old 60's stuff comes across as ("Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" comes most immediately to mind), or how androgynous nutty ol' Pete Gabriel looked back in the day; it could almost qualify for a double billing with Spinal Tap doing "(Listen to the) Flower People."

For whatever it's worth I also enjoy Steely Dan's stuff, though the only album of theirs that I'm really familiar with is "Can't Buy a Thrill" - definitely one of my all-time favorites though.

[President_Obama]

Can't say I'm a Genesis fan, but Turn It On Again always raises a smile and Gabriel's Games Without Frontiers is definitely in my top 20. I hate the lyrics, but that chorus gets me every time.

[Jon]

"Genesis: Peter Gabriel Trilogy"

There are a few good Genesis albums beyond the Gabriel era. A Trick of the Tail is fantastic and a personal favorite.
For some modern day prog check out the one man project Willowglass. Mellotron fans will rejoice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXEfcFTH0CU

Steely Dan has always been a guilty pleasure but can they really be considered progressive rock?

[endoKarb]

Have you tried PFM? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premiata_Forneria_Marconi

"Per un Amico" and "L'isola di Niente" both have that pastoral, "symphonic" sound that reminds me of the classic Genesis albums you mentioned. Not understanding Italian takes a big dimension away from it though, especially when compared with something as lyrically sophisticated as Selling England by the Pound.

Pretty cool to see an Italian band getting mentioned.

There indeed were quite a few notable Prog Rock band in Italy. I'm not too familiar with them (I only really know PFM for their work as Fabrizio De André backing band for example), but another band I can definitely recommend is AreA.

The band was led by what was possibly the most technicaly talented vocalist the world has ever seen. Definitely one the most dedicated to the study of the human voice as a musical instrument and it's limit at the very least.

Anyone interested in creative and technically complex rock/jazzy music would do himself a favor checking them out.
Crac! and Arbeit macht frei still rank pretty high among my favourite albums, but anything from the Demetrio Stratos era is probably fine.

[Moniker]

Yes was always my favorite, but no doubt you've heard them (and they don't quite match the mood of what you listed, maybe The Yes Album to an extent).

Yeah forgot to mention Yes. Close to the Edge is freaking amazing. I'd even say perfect, along with Selling England by the Pound, and King Crimson's first release. Yes's 'Relayer' is also fantastic.

Just listened to PLM. Great stuff but, as you said, the language barrier is a problem. I think I'd group them with ELP more than anyone else.

I like played in a prog rock band for 7-8 years actually, recorded a couple albums. Very influenced by Genesis, Yes, King Crimson. I'll upload something to the thread later maybe.

Please upload! Always hungry for new music.

Forgot to mention the latest and greatest: Grizzly Bear. The album 'Veckimest' is a revelation. South Pointe and Two Weeks are super duper. More pop-sensibility than their forebears, but they're definitely holding the candle.

[CStarFlare]

When I was in Italy I grabbed an Italian prog rock collection with 5 albums from the 70s. I don't think I ever finished listening to all of them, but this has rekindled my interest.

I'm very fond of Thick as a Brick but never could fall in love with A Passion Play. Is this normal behavior?

[antron]

When I was in Italy I grabbed an Italian prog rock collection with 5 albums from the 70s. I don't think I ever finished listening to all of them, but this has rekindled my interest.

I'm very fond of Thick as a Brick but never could fall in love with A Passion Play. Is this normal behavior?

Premiata Forneria Marconi?

[jonny5]

All these posts and no mention of Goblin

[Moniker]

All these posts and no mention of Goblin

What's Goblin, and where do I start?

[jonny5]

DAFUQ??

Search Goblin. They did the original dawn of the dead soundtrack among dozens of others. Check out their early stuff for the pre- soundtrack stuff, Roller is a good start.

[Domino]

Selling England by the Pound is the best Prog-era Genesis album.

If we are talking about Prog rock what about Krautrock? Like Can, Neu!, etc.

[Eno]

Something evil keeps telling me to mention Aphrodite's Child 666. Not sure what exactly it resembles on your list, but I sort of feel it fits the mood somehow. It's an early attempt at a concept album, not tremendously succesful, but has some pretty exciting moments(mostly in the first 15 or so minutes tbh). Listen with headphones for minimal embarassment.

Something perhaps not so evil keeps telling me to shill a bit for the national bands too, so give Bacamarte(beautiful classical guitar work, only downsides are the poor recording and the female vocals) a try. Os Mutantes "O A e o Z" is not a bad call either.

And of course, I wouldn't be honoring my nickname if I didn't recommend Eno fruit salts for all your acidity and bloated tummy problems.

And Magma. Because why not, Zeuhl is cool.

If we are talking about Prog rock what about Krautrock? Like Can, Neu!, etc.

Could never really get into it. Such a shame.

[Moniker]

And of course, I wouldn't be honoring my nickname if I didn't recommend Eno fruit salts for all your acidity and bloated tummy problems.

Oh yeah! Early Roxy Music, which is halfway b/w prog and pop (which makes it especially awesome), and his role in Bowie's Berlin/Thin White Duke Trilogy. His solo stuff is also great but tends towards the ambient/electronica. Another Green World and Ambient 1: Music for Airports are personal faves.

Edit: Can rawks. Main inspiration for my high school/college bands. Actually named ourselves 'Paperhouse' after their song. Oddly, didn't know they were a German band. Thought the lead vocalist was Korean or some shit?

[Domino]

Something evil keeps telling me to mention Aphrodite's Child 666. Not sure what exactly it resembles on your list, but I sort of feel it fits the mood somehow. It's an early attempt at a concept album, not tremendously succesful, but has some pretty exciting moments(mostly in the first 15 or so minutes tbh). Listen with headphones for minimal embarassment.

Something perhaps not so evil keeps telling me to shill a bit for the national bands too, so give Bacamarte(beautiful classical guitar work, only downsides are the poor recording and the female vocals) a try. Os Mutantes "O A e o Z" is not a bad call either.

And of course, I wouldn't be honoring my nickname if I didn't recommend Eno fruit salts for all your acidity and bloated tummy problems.

666 is a Vangelis classic. One of those albums to play on full volume on speakers.

[antron]

Selling England by the Pound is the best Prog-era Genesis album.

If we are talking about Prog rock what about Krautrock? Like Can, Neu!, etc.

Grobschnitt ist der Hammer!

[chum]

Prog is what really got me crazy about music. The classic "Symph-Prog" stuff mainly. Genesis, Yes, PFM, VdGG... Ok VdGG isn't your typical symph-prog but yeah, that stuff. I delved into Prog further and found that I was most partial towards Magma and other Zeuhl music, as well as Avant-Prog. Non Credo is my favorite there.

Anyway, I actually made a list years ago documenting good lesser known prog albums. It could definitely stand an update, but eh. http://rateyourmusic.com/list/chumlum/prog_gems/

[CMoon]

Too many things to reply to in this thread:

Genesis: Peter Gabriel Trilogy. Particularly 'Selling England by the Pound' and 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Pt. 1'

Without being directly derivative, the first thing which comes to mind is Van Der Graaf Generator. This is very much a product of Peter Hammil's vocals and not so much the music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDmhP6YiN6s

Bowie: Berlin Trilogy, particularly 'Low.'

Can't help too much except to point out the obvious hand of Eno (and sometimes Fripp) on these albums. Also, there's a track on Lodger that is a clearly inspired by Harmonia's Monza:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6uvYuEyUY4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sRjOFbNyGY

King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King

Court of the Crimson King...I'd worry about other things sounding too much like it. If you want to track backwards there is that Giles Giles and Fripp Brondesbury Tapes collect that unlike the actual GG&F album has some very interesting cuts. Also the McDonald and Giles album should be better than it is, but is still far better than Crimson's copy-cat Poseidon album.

Personally I like their mid-70's period best, and if you don't have the 4 disc live set that at least originally was called 'The Great Deceiver', you're missing out on one of the best prog-reissues of all time.

Can - Tago Mago (pushing the definition, but whatevs)

Now here we have one of my favorite albums of all time. I am going to assume you already own there other studio albums (I think you can safely stop at Future Days, but others disagree.) I know people argue between Malcolm Mooney and Damo Sazuki (I've met Sazuki and had him sign my tago mago lp); but there's no point debating when the music is this good. Worth noting is that Tago Mago was reissued recently with a second disc of phenomenal live material along with a new collection called 'Lost Tapes' which has even more Damo period live material. Among the unreleased studio material is enough Malcom Mooney tracks that if combined with all the singles on Unlimited edition and Soundtracks to make an additional Malcom Mooney album (something that would have appeared between Delay and Monster Movie.)

More to come...

[CMoon]

One item I tend to disagree with most fans on are the first handful of albums; lots of people seem to view Trespass's "The Knife" as their first truly "successful" song, and maintain that they didn't really hit their stride until a few albums in; personally, "Knife" is probably my least favorite song on that album (not terrible, but I'd call it the least distinctive if nothing else), and moreover I'd call their next record, Nursery Cryme, the point at which they hit their stride.

I seem to be with you, more or less. Trespass is actually one of my favorite along with Foxtrot. Then Lamb, then Nursery. Selling England is actually my least favorite of the Gabriel albums. Guess it is all subjective, but the production on Selling England isn't as raw as the other albums and I just don't find the songs as compelling--basically More Fool Me and Battle of Epping Forest are no Supper's Ready.


****

A couple newer finds for me:

Jan Dukes de Grey 'Mice and Rats in the Loft' (Seems to happily fuze canterbury sound, a little faust, henry cow, etc.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQTO3yAsvr0

Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes (Imagine an Italian King Crimson with Vangelis on keyboards and Nico on vocals...oversimplifying, but you get the idea)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpJl3dY8jDc

[CMoon]

If we are talking about Prog rock what about Krautrock? Like Can, Neu!, etc.

Well if you're gonna squeeze my arm like that...

Amon Duul 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq3jPTLZJKo

Ash Ra Tempel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWifW-NaM4s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5vRa6Pv3PE

Cluster:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNy75iWo8yQ
(Christ! the number of full albums on youtube is stupid)

Faust
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRxvQmTTz5I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdjpwxYup3k

Guru Guru / Space Box -- well, not the same project, but connected by Uli Trepte.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CZhf7YPc7Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_XtjA9zeKE


Harmonia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVoJ4WytqTg

Organisation / Kraftwerk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMw2sXAkkng

Neu -- always thought (like Kraftwerk) they got more attention than they deserved. Still, Neu 1 and 75 are great albums. Just to piss all of you off, here's a link to La Dusseldorf's second album instead (it's a neu spin-off project, so why not?):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_XtjA9zeKE

Popul Vuh -- super varied output, at first psychedlic electronic, then more psychedelic hippy proto-new age:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbQ1v-nCFjA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_XtjA9zeKE


Oh yeah, and someone put the entire double Walter Wegmuller album up which must be heard to be believed (includes members from above bands):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9wbskytVf0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZR4Go_nyRg

[ColonelFatso]

I'm kind of all over the place when it comes to prog rock stuff, but I don't think anybody can ever top Genesis in terms of fusing the arts of songwriting, arrangement and performance so perfectly. If any other artist even stands a chance it'd be either Peter Hammill (including VdGG) or Gentle Giant. Hammill's not the strongest songwriter or musician ever, but his intricate lyrics and the sheer power of his vocal performances blow me away - Scorched Earth is a particular favourite in both respects. Gentle Giant are perhaps the grooviest Brits ever to live, and more than any other big prog band (other than Genesis of course) their music is just plain FUN to listen to.

I don't know what it is, but I can't stand ELP anymore. I think it might be Carl Palmer - tons of skill but practically no creativity if you ask me. Yes I still really like, but no longer revere as gods.

Areas I'd like to explore more, if any of the highly-knowledgeable folks here have suggestions:

Canterbury: I've only really listened to Canterbury bands with Richard Sinclair in them (Caravan, Hatfield and the North, Camel - although they're more like a Pink Floyd tribute band that just happens to come from Canterbury). I heard a couple Soft Machine records but didn't really bite. Gong's not really Canterbury but I like them too. What should I tackle next?

Zeuhl: Are there any good Zeuhl groups in the last decade that aren't Magma's last legs or Koenjihyakkei?

Italian: Anything would be nice, honestly. I've listened through a couple of PFM records (Per un Amico being a personal favourite) and not much beyond that.

Krautrock: I know my Can, my Faust, my Amon Duul II. Kraftwerk seems like a daunting catalogue to get into - is it worth the plunge?



And as a Canadian I have to do my patriotic duty and pimp out Harmonium - a fantastic folk-pop band from Quebec with more than a hint of prog sensibilities.

[Eaglet]

Gentle Giant

[BulletMagnet]

Selling England is actually my least favorite of the Gabriel albums. Guess it is all subjective, but the production on Selling England isn't as raw as the other albums and I just don't find the songs as compelling--basically More Fool Me and Battle of Epping Forest are no Supper's Ready.

I'd definitely call Selling the "mellowest" of the albums in terms of tone, if not subject matter; if I'm in the mood for something like that I'll gravitate towards it, but it definitely doesn't immediately grab you the same way most of its siblings will. I've always meant to do a bit more research into the painting on the cover; supposedly it's what inspired "I Know What I Like," but I don't know much about it otherwise. Speaking of Supper's Ready, as someone who sings a bit (nothing professional, mind you) I've always wondered what it must be like to do that kind of song (more like a medley, really) as a live performance, let alone a double-album set like The Lamb - considering how much my own vocal stamina has deteriorated over the years it's a bit of a daunting idea, heh.

[charlie chong]

not near my lp collection for reference(i am terrible with names of lps and songs).
some italian progs that haven't been mentioned yet
banco del mutuo soccorso
le orme
new trolls

soft machine first 3 lps are great and fuzzy psychedlic prog.the third one has more jazzy leanings.
matching mole
gong est mort (a 2lp live set with much better versions of songs from the studio lps)the sound is real good for a live lp.it almost sounds like a studio lp

once i've had a look at my lps i'll get back to you with some weird and wonderful prog from round the world.. i cosign every german band cmoon mentioned as well

oh some french prog as well
catharsis
l'ange

also what about about prog jazz? there's loads of good bands in that genre as well.

[Eno]

666 is a Vangelis classic. One of those albums to play on full volume on speakers.

Absolutely! As long as you live alone and in a fairly liberal neighbourhood that doesn't really mind you banging the whore of babylon in the middle of the afternoon

Oh yeah! Early Roxy Music, which is halfway b/w prog and pop (which makes it especially awesome), and his role in Bowie's Berlin/Thin White Duke Trilogy. His solo stuff is also great but tends towards the ambient/electronica. Another Green World and Ambient 1: Music for Airports are personal faves.

tbh I never felt compelled to give Roxy a try, gotta fix it some day.
His pre-ambient rock works are really good. Here Come the Warm Jets in particular has grown a lot on me last year, so much weird stuff going on and that guitar wall filling all the space right off the bat, fun stuff. Another Green World still wins though, Fripp was just amazing on that one. Speaking of him, the Frippertronics albums they did are really good too(is there anything the too did together that isn't?)