Seven Greatest ProgRock bands of All-Time?

[kmc]

Remember what Holzman said on page 1 about prog sucking?

Still applies.

[Thorngrub]

"prog" may suck; but the music of

king crimson
rush
porcupine tree
tool

and even some dream theater that I've heard

is flat out amazing,
awe inspiring, and if it "sucks",
it's the best damned audial -oral -sexin' you could possibly get.

"prog" = dumbass label


"dumbass labels" suck, you are right about that much

[maarts]

Oh what the fuck- I always loved progressive rock. Naysayers can say whatever they like.

7. King Crimson. Probably individually the most accomplished of bands, the sheer diversity of scopes from jazz to heavy metal is amazingly explored. I couldn't get into it in the beginning but, like those 3D-pictures, keep on staring at it and suddenly the full scape emerges- had that with Larks Tongues especially and that one now is a classic.

6. Marillion. Marillion??? Marillion!!! Yes, fucking MARILLION. When they came onto the same at the time I dug bands like IQ, Pallas and Pendragon they seemed to tie a few more knots with me. Admittedly, Script For A Jester's Tear and Misplaced Childhood sound a bit dated but listen to Brave and Afraid Of Sunlight and be dazzled.

5. Yes- probably the reason why so often the prog-genre gets lambasted because of the lyrics, Jon Anderson's pig-squeal of a voice and the strange stories surrounding the band but there's no denying that Close To The Edge, Fragile, Going For The One and The Yes Album are bonafide classics. Bill Bruford, Chris Squire and Steve Howe are God. Rick Wakeman may apply to be a cherub in their court. Jon Anderson is the devil but damn if I don't like the hell he presides over...

4. Genesis- Steve Hackett, Ant Phillips and Peter Gabriel are possibly be the most lauded in the band but Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford were heroic in my view too.

3. Dream Theater- A band who grew awesomer with every release.

2. Porcupine Tree- People who know, know.

1. Pink Floyd. The purveyors of languid prog, the stuff of endless dreams, where not everything in the sound was subservient to technical prowess, tempi-changes or enormously long solos.

Honourable mentions:

Hawkwind- Space Ritual, In Search Of Space, Doremi and in The Hall...are brilliant. Then the mothership started dangerously veering into murky waters, mostly emanating from the anal passages of Turner and Brock.

Spock's Beard and Flower Kings- the avant prog-garde. Early material is really strong but slowly starts to become formulaic.

Opeth. From Blackwater Park on truly essential but I think they don't consider themselves prog.

Isis. Oceanic and Panopticon are truly stunning. Totally cleanbowkled me when they came out. Their early stuff doesn't do much for me.

Jethro Tull. Had a phase in which i took in a lot of their music but too many albums with mediocre tracks passed by. Broadswoard and Aqualung still stand firm. Need to get Minstrel In The Gallery.

EL&P. I can take them or leave them but Tarkus is genius and I can listen to Pictures At An Exhibition.

Focus- the Dutch could do prog and do it very well. Supersister (Iskander!) was probably the best we had but Focus was just the more amazing.

I don't consider Radiohead, Sigur Ros and the Godspeed!-aligned bands to be in the prog-rock category as my description of prog's more along the classic line.

[pauledwardwagemann]

Nice post maarts, my knowledge of Prog Rock mostly comes through my step-dad (who was only 13 years older than me and more like an older borther at times). His record collection inthe 70s was heavy with Yes, Genesis, ELP and it also went as heavy as Uriah Heep and Deep Purple or as light as Cat Stevens and Liona Boyd. Anyway I got into Jethro Tull's Aqualung during the mid 80's when I inherited his record collection (actually my mom divorced him and I basically stole it) and wanted to hear more of JT, so I went to my local used record store and for $1.99 bought the JT album with the coolest looking cover--which IMO was Minstril In the Gallery. I listened to once and wasnt impressed. Then listened to it maybe a handful of times throughout that summer and it left me with no lasting impression...

[Paul]

ryosuke said:

jllm said:

I stopped bothering about deciding which bands fit which genres years ago.

Same here.

Yep, kinda seems like most music is influenced by multiple sources, not just one specific genre. Bands like Wilco, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, and Jimi Hendrix certainly aren't just one specific genre....they're sound is pulled from many different types of music.

[Thorngrub]

I was a huge Tull/Yes/Rush/Crimson/Sabbath/Zep/Maiden/Heep/Purple/Rainbow/Floyd fanatic during the 70's and into the mid-80's, and I'll tell you what (having owned every Jethro Tull album ever released prior to Catfish Rising), but "Minstrel In The Gallery" remained my favorite Tull of all for a good solid many years. In retrospect, I can easily tell you that their greatest achievement besides Aqualung was Thick As A Brick, but Minstrel In The Gallery comes real close for a three -way tie.

The title track which kicks the album off is perfect Minstrel -fare, you couldn't ask for anything better. Then you get the amazingly icy "Cold Wind To Valhalla", and believe me, that delivers the goods. "Black Satin Dancer" is very evocative, "Requiem" is a sad, acoustic lullaby, "One White Duck/0¹⁰ = Nothing At All is one of the greatest Tull tunes ever recorded.

maarts, you need this album, that's all there is to it.

[sisyphus]

i really like the porcupine tree thorn has played for me. i first heard it when his friend G. played a porcupine tree cover at a local bar here in slc. very beautiful.

[Thorngrub]

Yeah, G played "Lazarus" on his beautiful baritone acoustic guitar.

[pauledwardwagemann]

thorny said:

I was a huge Tull/Yes/Rush/Crimson/Sabbath/Zep/Maiden/Heep/Purple/Rainbow/Floyd fanatic during the 70's and into the mid-80's

You forgot Styx, dude!