In the 1970s, Genesis had a phenomenal decade - despite losing Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett, they had eight albums that ranged from terrific to outright masterpiece.
@@jaywarren2126 what are you talking about? selling england by the pound is so much better than every other genesis album, even if you only include firth of fifth. When you add in dancing with the moonlit knight and battle of epping forest, there's just no comparison
@@jaywarren2126 Lamb was my personal 2nd least favorite of the Gabriel-era albums. I couldn't get into the overuse of vocal effects on so many songs, especially when it sounded like a flanger or over-chorused effect, and several of the songs felt like filler used just to move the story along, and I really dislike the slimy sounding whisper voice on the Slipperman. My ranking would be Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound, Trespass, Nursery Crime, Lamb, and Genesis to Revelation. If I was including the Collins-era albums in my ranking, I'd put Lamb below Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering but above Duke
The Moody Blues get overlooked in this (and many other categories), but To Our Children's Children's Children is a progressive masterpiece. A sonic journey, and a perfect blend of emotion, intellect, light, shadow, joy, melancholy...and on and on. A true concept album, where every song blends into the next like shades in an impressionist painting.
Yes - the Moody Blues are the definition of Proggresive Rock. Compllcated keyboard playing as in Yes, Gentle Giant, ELP may be impressive but are actually empty
Their wiki said it was released in '69. I agree about the band. But the stuff at the end of the 60s is their best IMHO. They did some good things in the '70s, but not as strong on the whold.
Thank you THANK you for including Focus. This album got me into rock music in the early 70's. I agree so much with your choices in many of your videos.
I LOVE Gentle Giant. They are not very popular, but they are my favorite progressive rock bands from the 70s,Renaissance and The Strawbs are also favorites of mine. Three great groups. Unfortunately all 3 groups are very under rated.
Close to the Edge will always be #1 for me. I've had it on vinyl for 30+ years and it probably gets more spins than any other record in my 1000+ LP collection. So good.
Wow! Impressive. I just bought the 35th Anniversary CD a few months ago. Love it. Check out the inside cover. I even ordered my 1st Yes Tshirt. I think maybe Fragile for me. I've had 90125 for atleast 10 yrs. Bought in local record store for a buck or two. Now, I am into the 180 gm vinyl. Not sure it is any better than original vinyl.
Some can match the technical level no problem but the overall sound they put out is almost beyond description, mystical, majestic and gutsy all at once
Being a huge fan of prog, Wishbone Ash is one of my favorites and Argus by far my favorite Wishbone Ash album. Good call. Surprised there is so little activity on your comment here!
Thanks for mentioning Max Webster! I have been a fan since 1977's 'High Class In Borrowed Shoes' and it's been frustrating that almost nobody mentioned them or knew about them. One of the gems of the 1970s hard rock/ prog rock genres and really a brilliant band.
So thrilled to finally see some love for Kansas...of course loved Leftoverture, but Kansas, Song for America and Masque...such amazing musicianship both instrumentally and vocally. Thanks for acknowledging their greatness!
You deserve an award for picking Jethro Tull´s Minstrel in the Gallery! my favourite album of all time, and gets so little recognition! Very well done!
Echo that sentiment ! Ministrel and Tull overall aren't appreciated enough. I have tons of prog and JT is probably, over the years, the prog group I've listened to most. And I consider ELP to be my favorite OAT !!
eribaldo Yes , absolutely! When I think about it . I’ve listened to Minstrel in the gallery more than any other Tull album, and I listened to them all a lot..
I love Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. Most people never mention it. The finale of Todd Rundgren’s album Initiation, “A Treatise on Cosmic Fire,” is wild as hell, too.
"The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" is by far,the greatest Genesis "prog rock" album and one of the greatest of all time."Fly on a windshield"."Back in NYC","Carpet Crawlers","Lilywhite Lilith"."The Lamia"."The Colony of Slippermen",etc.Gabriel's lyrics surreal.Before that "Supper's Ready" set the scene.
@@Larsangel Me neither-it's easily my least favorite of the Gabriel era. Even Steve Hackett once said that when they were recording the music Gabriel wasn't around (tending to the birth of his first kid) and then when he came back he was singing over many sections that Hackett thought were going to be instrumental sections and/or tracks. You can hear it if you listen closely as the music in the 'background' sometimes clashes with the vocals. Plus I hate the sound of the album-gone were the lush orchestral keyboards and the wonderful hybrid of acoustic and electric guitars, changed I guess for a 'tougher' sound, but a sound which I dont' think at all suits Genesis int he 1970's era.
Nigel..you got it right ! Don't listen to your Replys ! Lamb has got it all ! Artwork, great story (of course it's weird !!) and is a total muscle prog album. Band is at it's height of music prowess and Gabriel's vocals are also. Lamb is the Genesis album that let you know that the earlier albums were dangerously close to sounding formulaic. Lamb chopped up the whole Supper's Ready/Musical Box thematic lifeboat that became a stagnation worry. Don't get me wrong I like earlier Genesis..love Selling England...but it all needed messing up and Lamb did just that in a wonderful way. I tend to be a Gabriel-only Genesis fan but also do feel cuts off of Duke and ABACAB to be just as good.
Dude, this immediately became one of my favourite videos on youtube. You took me right back to the time of my teens when music was so much more than just a catchy tune. Music was magical back then. Every new album was an adventure. Thank you so much for reminding me about so much stuff I had forgotten.
Thanks for this run down of classic prog rock bands. Glad to see someone mentioned The Stawbs Heroes and Heroines. Another one worth mentioning is McDonald and Giles (titled the same) which includes the Birdman Suite. Pink Floyd and early King Crimson are my all time favorites. At the ripe old age of 66 I still play them daily.
The Jethro Tull assessment was spot on...my favorite is also Benefit...followed by Minstrel in the Gallery....then Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Passion Play, and the rest....Jethro Tull was always my favorite band of all time...and always will be....
The same to me , Jethro Tull forever , the best progressive rock band , they produced 23 masterpieces without counting the Ian Anderson solo albums , there is no musician in prog rock as Ian Anderson, he is the most talented smart musician.
Thank you for spreading the good word of UK. I had never heard of them prior to this. I'm 15 and just started getting into music and UK were a great taste of 70's prog
My wife is South American and introduced me to Camel. I guess they were pretty popular down south. Anyway, I really grew to appreciate them. Really soothing, jazzy prog rock.
Thanks for having mentioned Harmonium, I love to listen their symphonic folk/prog. They refused to sing in English, otherwise they surely have conquered the states..
Harmonium is only underrated in that they were completely unknown in the States, which is no surprise when they sung in French, but in their native Quebec they were superstars. I've met a few people from Quebec and I bring up Harmonium and they totally know what I'm talking about.
Mr. Mike please check out my recently released interview with Sir Thijs van Leer of FOCUS filmed aboard Cruise to the Edge. I have additional forthcoming interviews with Sir Thijs, guitarist Menno, & bassist Udo, as well as many more Prog legends & up-and-coming artists in various genres. Enjoy! #pallasonair ua-cam.com/video/iEPELSY5nb4/v-deo.html
I saw Gentle Giant 6 times from 1974-1977' I think their best shows were the 75-76' era, GG Always much better Live and to see them all playing so many different instruments and having so much fun on stage was so great !!! That's why GG Double Live album "Playing the Fool" is just the best and really captures those Live moments and sounds !! : D
@@Acujeremy Well everyone seems to love Octopus of course and it's the first one I heard then backtrack to find out about GG, but all these like most of Giant's songs are so much better live ! I Guess my Favs today are "Power and the Glory" and "Free Hand" and there so close for me but I also love "Interview" with is quite smart what they're doing on that concept album I think ! And Like "Freehand" and even "The Missing Piece" which those songs are great Live Lol. Well you can see I'm very conflicted with GG but they are just great and in that Classic time if you were around like myself going between Boston (I lived in the area), Providence,RI, Worcester and NYC to follow our favorite Prog Bands of this era ... Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, ELP, Nektar and Gentle Giant !! Those years 1972' through 1977' were just so fantastic and magical with 75-76" the Best for Giant ! I wish we had today's Cell phones so we could have captured it !! But it's I my memory as long as I can remember it !! Lol : D Thanks for posting !!
@@ronniefarnsworth6465 Gentle Giant is one of those bands where I have heard some of their songs, seem some live video clips, know they are extremely talented, but I don't know them well at all. I've actually never listened to an entire GG album. My favorite Prog bands are Yes, King Crimson and Gabriel era Genesis. So if there is one pinnacle album for me to listen to and really get to know, which one do you recommend?
@@Acujeremy I would really do the Live album - "Playing the Fool" it sounds great and cover many albums on their 75'-76' tours and you can hear & feel the energy and their incredible talents playing their many instruments and vocal harmonies !! Thrust me it's Great !! Enjoy and thanks for posting !! : )
Trilogy was my first ELP and almost first album ever...one of my sisters friend held up an Allman Bros album and Trilogy and said you can have one. I reached for the Allman Bros and he pulled that one back and pushed Trilogy forward like..no you want this one. I got it and it changed my music life. BSS' problem is all the compression used in it's recording. Sounds like someone sucked the air out of the room. But it's great music and Welcome Back...shows it off much better.
Gentle Giant my favorite progressive rock group from the 70s. I have all of there albums too. But all of them I have on vinyl,which I played over and over again,on my 3 turntables .Very under rated but they make GREAT music.
Sure! In a Glass House is, probably, my favorite music work. But (almost) all of them are pure gold (Giant for a day just doesn´t make my day and Side 1 of Missing Piece wouldn't be missed, though)...
I'm Italian and it's great you spoke about our '70s Prog Scene! And really love all the other great albums you put in your list, we prefer same albums from many bands, like Crime of the Century, Foxtrot, Animals, Close to the Edge... Great masterpieces! I would like to suggest another great Italian Prog Band, I'm talking about Area. They made very complicated Prog Rock with multi influences from Prog, Jazz, Indian and Etnic music. Their singer, Demetro Stratos, was known for being a poliphonic singer. He could do multiple voices together... Incredible! When he died PFM made a song for him, called Maestro Della Voce (that means Voice's Master). Anyway hope you'll read this and you will like Area..
I'm from Mexico, and been a great fan of italian prog rock from de 70's. PFM is my favorite , but love all the other great bands from that era. Had the chance to see some of them playing in my home town (Mexicali, Mex) during BAJA PROG FESTIVAL (from late 90s to early 2000's.) there are some videos in YT from those concerts. Saludos Alessandro!!
Pink Floyd Animals.... in High School (1979) I was tripping on LSD listening to the album. The guitar solo at the end of Sheep the music came out of the speakers, written on sheet music paper, in neon colors. As the solo bounced around, the music bounced off the walls of my bedroom, changing colors.
Eloy - Gernany's best kept prog rock secret. I saw them play once here in the UK at the Marquee in London in 1984 and went out to Germany in 2012 and 2013 to Berlin and Cologne respectively to see them also. I actually had tears of joy in my eyes when they walked on stage in Berlin, a truly awesome concert. I've been a complete fan of theirs since the Planets album came out.
ELP is favorite prog band (Renaissance, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Triumvirat my other favs)I have always felt that Trilogy was their best. They were at their height of musicianship, virtuosity, tightness. Amazing compositions. I can understand why you went with Tarkus. Interestingly, I always felt Tarkus came across so much better in concert))
@@tonyburrows1346 Agreed. Brain Salad Surgery is the top album of their whole discography. Their most sophisticated and most refined album. And one of the finest sound engineering one. 👍
My personal top ten -: 10). Barclay James Harvest ' Time Honoured Ghosts', 9). Caravan ' Cunning Stunts', 8). Procol Harum ' Home' , 7). ELO ' El Dorado', 6). Supertramp ' Crisis What Crisis', 5). Camel ' Moonmadness', 4). Steve Hackett ' Voyage of the Acolyte', 3). Yes 'Going For The One, 2). Pink Floyd 'Animals', 1).Genesis ' Selling England By The Pound'.
I love it when I hear folks speak highly of the huge talent of Jethro Tull !! You know oddly enough my least favorite albums of JT are Thick as a Brick and Aqualung ! Don't know that I've ever heard those more than twice a piece ! In constant rotation are the middle to later 70's ...Minstrel in the Gallery on up to Stormwatch. But Stormwatch for whatever reason, didn't do it for me and I pretty much stop purchasing their output after that except for the occasional Nightcap or compilation containing unreleased songs...stuff like that. But I listen to them now more than most other Prog groups...holds up better than others.
@@EastmanD I probably listen to "Aqualung" and "Thick as a Brick" the least of that 70's run. I also was never much a fan of "Stormwatch," but I pulled it out again a couple of years ago and it clicked with me for some reason. Maybe because I'm getting old! It's definitely a more contemplative record. My favorite Tull albums are probably "A Passion Play," "War Child" and "Songs from the Wood." I've seen them nine times and they're always a fantastic show. I've always felt Ian Anderson is underrated as a songwriter. There's authentic poetry in those lyrics. "Cup of Wonder" could adorn any respectable poetry journal in the world!
@@bradhollowniczky3503 you know, I had a buddy that was a Tull fan right along side me and when Stormwatch came out I just didn't really pay attention. He always said "you don't know what you missing , it's as good as...". Came back to'em around 1980, thumbing through a record bin and saw "A"...now I'm a definite 70's prog guy and along with fantastic music you also got fantastic album covers from all kinds of artists ! So when I saw the purple/pink glow with the Close Encounters-ish "motif" I was like "oh sh*t" he's gone off the deep end" (remember they use to play live in those ridiculous white "technicians" outfits !!) and I just about wrote off JT then and there. So Stormwatch really got glossed over by me and maybe it's about time I gave my buddy some credit and give it a second go. I imagine I've heard more of it than I realize via box sets like the original release of 20 Years of Jethro Tull that I loved ! But it's best to hear the music from the original album with the original listing of the tunes so I'll give it a shake. Your favs are fantastic Tull and getting to see them 9 times truly makes me envious. I saw Tull but it was late like 2005 or something like that but it was good and I enjoyed it. But the "one that got away" was when JT came around (I'm from Bama so bands like Tull were infrequent visitors to the south) sometime about 1979 and was THE hot ticket of the season. For whatever reason I DIDN'T GO! Classic Tull...probably still had Barlow and maybe still had Glascock playing with them...I mean perhaps the same stage show as Bursting Out which is one of my top 5 Live albums OAT !! That one still makes me cringe. An album I don't have that I recently caught wind of is Acoustic Tull and I love their acoustic as much or more than their hard stuff so I think I need that one. Cheers.
Songs from the Woods was a turn from the Too Old...Aqualung War Child to a minstrel country squire sound Heavy Horses was similiar but I began to wane following them
Jethro Tull 70s line up, is probably the best lineup ever exited , I mean between all Prog rock bands . D Palmer, I Anderson, M Barre , B Barlow , J Evan and J Hammon/ J Glasckock .
Here’s a few maybe more obscure : Curved Air , Air Conditioning. Colosseum 11 , War Dance. National Health. Greenslade, Bedside manners are extra. Caravan, Land of Grey and Pink. Amon Duul 11, Wolf City. Kayak, See the Sun. Kraftwerk, Autobahn. Can Future Days. Matching Mole. Gong, Flying Teapot.
Hones The only thing that puts it behind CTTE for me is “The Ancient.” Not a fan of the 18 minute, rambling, incoherent guitar solo. The rest of the album slaps, though.
Focus, “Moving Waves” - my introduction to prog and still a sentimental fave! I bought it (age 12) for Hocus Pocus; was I ever unprepared for the rest of the album but it converted me for life. Max Webster were label-mates of Rush (Anthem Records in Canada) and used to tour together. I used to go to their shows and preferred Max a lot more. PFM were briefly signed to Arista Records in the US; they played some American cities that had Italian communities, recorded live and studio material in the US too. So glad to see bands from the jazzy/avant side of the Prog spectrum well represented. It seems like the majority of Prog writers/commentators only mention Crimson and nobody else from that side. I mainly prefer that jazzy side of prog.
You missed the entire Canterbury Scene!!! Soft Machine, Caravan, Robert Wyatt, Matching Mole, Hatfield & The North, Kevin Ayers .. and their links with Gong. How could you! They were the best progressives ever.
I was lucky enough to see him live in about 2003. He showed up with a band and played his best known songs. His voice was as smooth and rich as it ever was. "Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes" still makes me want to rave. "Thank you ... very ... much. Bye bye!"
I was surprised there was no mention of “I, Robot” by the Alan Parsons Project (a later video ranks this as Pete’s #1 album by APP). I also think “Queen II” has many prog elements.
Love that you included the Italian band PFM in your collection. They are really good. Another foreign language band you should include for a top Progressive Rock is the French-Canadian (Quebecois) band Harmonium. They only released three albums but they were really creative and prolific. I recommend the first and third albums.
Great that the incredible Van der Graaf Generator gets a mention, Pawn Hearts is stunning, and VDGG are simply amazing. Personally, I would have included Softmachine’s incredible album, Third, but it’s your list not mine. Good stuff.
Someone mentioned B Bruford as a musician who made three bands in the list. A virtuoso, no doubt. But nobody seems to remember another legend: John Wetton. King Crimson, UK, and Wishbone Ash. All mentioned in this review. (RIP)
I have to give it to BSS over Tarkus too, but it's real close. The Tarkus suite is brilliant, but that LP falls a little flat on side 2. BSS is great throughout, but what really tips it for me is "Toccata" - you don't get much more bombastic than that!
My personal favorite top 10 prog albums of the 70s....in chronological order: Gentle Giant: Octopus (1972) ELP: Trilogy (1972) Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick (1972) Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) Genesis: Selling England by the Pound (1973) Yes: Relayer (1974) King Crimson: Red (1974) Todd Rundgren's Utopia (1974) Camel: The Snow Goose (1975) Soft Machine: Softs (1976) Obviously tons of other prog albums I love too that could all have easily been on the list, but I think these ten albums best sum up and represent my love of the genre...
Renaissance were immaculate from 1972-79 Musicianship of the highest order, gorgeous melodies, arrangements, a bassist to easily rival Chris Squire and the incredible voice of Annie Haslam. Ashes are Burning or Novella, for me
So glad to see Nektar on your list! Saw them more times than any band in the 70’s. Honorable mention to Recycled, especially the side 1 epic. With Larry Fast’s wizardry added, songs like Cybernetic Consumption would take me for a ride, especially with headphones on! A different genre but up there for me in that era was Fast’s Synergy/Electronic Realizations.
I agree saw them 5 times in the mid 70's. Amazing band to see live.their sound was impeccable. I would have put recycled on that list also.they also had an incredible light show going on when they performed live. Excellent band.Good choice in
Jethro Tull, a great band I saw three times, twice in Phoenix, ( the first time just around the release of thier second album, and right after Martin Barre joined, with Zephyr opening... Again at the Phoenix Memorial Colleseum, and finally at Wembley stadium in London in '73, with Barrymore Barlow in place of Clive Bunker... The most progressive show Ivy seen em do... Saw Focus in Phoenix, killer set...
Love Pawn Hearts by Van DER Graf... PFM, photos of Ghosts and Cook... Gentle Giant, ( though I'm not as familiar with them as I'd like...) And Camel-- Mirage, The Snow Goose, and Moon madness... And the later ones with Richard Sinclair, who I admired from Caravan and Hatfield..
Yeah, Wishbone Ash, Argus, and Rundgren's Utopia, and Initiation... Never so big on Styx, no offense, but I considered them "fake prog"... Liked by kids who also liked bands like REO and Meat Loaf... No thanks..
My favorite 'Floyd albums (slough I liked 'em all) were Ummagumma, ( bridged the gap from the Syd Barrett era and the David Gillmour era... Kansas, I kinda lumped in with Styx (although I liked em better ) Italian prog, PFM, P. O. G. ( Produced by Pere Sinfield, known from working with :Crimson- helped theirs credibility in the English speaking world) You Didn't mention one of my favorite Italian prog groups, Area, which ventures into the fusion camp somewhat, and Dedallus, more of a fusion instrumental band with great lead guitars, keyboards and saxes, and I D K who else at the moment, Aphrodite's Child,666 -+ although I think they were Greek, not Italian... They had the keyboardist Vangelis, who did the great album Heaven and He'll, and rose to fame with (oh hell, what was that called about the Olympic running champion- real good, and it's on the tip of my tongue...)
Dude! You know your stuff!! Great music and great bands that I also love. I'm shocked you left off Brand X with Phil Collins, Percy Jones, Robin Lumley, etc. And.. Renaissance.
A good many of the albums mentioned have been re-issued in deluxe editions that include 5.1 Surround mixes on Blu-ray or DVD discs. Prog is the absolute *prefect* genre for Surround listening! Also, some of these deluxe issues include all-instrumental versions of this classic music. Hearing “Octopus” or “Close to the Edge” without any vocals is a whole new experience! You can hear so many new subtle background things that you never noticed before. Any prog fan who lacks a 5-channel home theatre system for Surround listening should really try to get one if they possibly can. It’s become the most important thing I own.
My older brother always liked Wishbone Ash. I, being younger, and perhaps more in tune with the bestselling prog bands like Tull, Yes, and King Crimson, thought Wishbone Ash was not melodic enough. My older brother had a musical sensibility all his own. Countless cut-out albums from Chicago, mostly black blues music, made up the bulk of his collection at one point. Thanks for mentioning Wishbone Ash. my older brother died a few years ago, and that band name made me remember him!
MrPorter7 Fish Out of Water is one of my all-time favorite albums. Please check out my recently released interview with Sir Thijs van Leer of Focus filmed aboard Cruise To The Edge, with many more interview releases forthcoming. Enjoy! ua-cam.com/video/iEPELSY5nb4/v-deo.html
I d go with "Selling England..." and "A Trick of the tail" as their best, but then again I like almost everything they did. Only their last two albums are...let s say "debatable"..Whatever, what a band!
This will change all the time over the years but this is today !! 1, Foxtrot - Genesis 2, Close to Edge - Yes 3, Starless and Bible Black - King Crimson 4, Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd 5, A Tab in the Ocean - Nektar 6, Playing the Fool - Gentle Giant 7, Space Ritual - Hawkwind 8, Fragile - Yes 9, In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson ( I know 1969 but can't leave it out ) 10, The Lamb - Genesis 11, Tarkus - Emerson, Lake & Palmer 12, Bursting Out - Jethro Tull 13, Red - King Crimson 14, Remember the Future - Nektar 15, Hall of the Mountain Grill - Hawkwind Well it will be different in a month !! Lol There are really 30+ great Prog albums easy !! I LOVE Rush But I think only really 3 Prog albums and before and after is Hard Rock to me but I Love there Prog period !! And the 1st and only the first UK album is a monster just Awesome !! And I cheated because I could make up my mind on them so Tull & Giant I put their Live albums down, saw GG 4 times 75, (2)76, 77 always the best shows so much fun watching these True Multi-instrumentalist !! : )
Ronnie Farnsworth just found “Remember the future” a few weeks back and oh my this just melts honey into my ears. It’s probably the sweetest, warmest thing i’ve ever heard. Btw still haven’t heard in my short 25 years anything comparable to Dvorak’s cello concerto. That’s somehow way beyond music to me.
@@mozsardaniel9184 Excellent, glad you found them !! Always happy when someone younger finds Classic Prog, there is so much of it from the best years 1969'-78' If you ever need some help finding some just post me here, I'm old enough and was lucky to see most of these bands starting with my older Brother that schooled me Lol. Thanks for posting !! : )
@@stevebinning977 Yes sir, Mick Brockett on liquid lights and Slides !! I was lucky to see them in Passaic, NY at the Capitol Theater May 9th, 1975' just after their Academy or Music shows in NYC that I missed. I had tickets for their earlier Remember The Future tour in Boston,MA in 1974' (2nd row) but that show and a bunch more were cancelled because Roye Albrighton got Hepatitis !!! It sucks that he died at 67' July 27th, 2016' !! I still listen to Nektar all the time. : ) www.sonicperspectives.com/features/remembering-nektar-roye-albrighton/
@@patrickallen1628 dude Joureny's 1st album wasn't with S.Perry/pop rock. My fav album from Journey. Their first 3 albums were progressive rock/jazz fushion style before S.Perry vocals took over!
Yeah I remember being blown away after hearing their music in either a prog rock compilation or my spotify discover weekly, and then my jaw dropped when I looked to see I was listening to Journey!
I saw Nektar at their reunion concert in London around 2004. There's two times I have cried with joy at a concert - once when Eloy walked on stage in Berlin in 2012 and the other time when Nektar started their set in 2004 with the opening chords of "A Tab In The Ocean". Roye Albrighton, RIP.
My list of the best progressive rock albums of all the times is: Yes (Fragile; Relayer; Close to the Edge; Tales from Topographic Oceans) Focus (Moving Waves; Focus III; Hamburger Concerto); Emerson Lake and Palmer (ELP 1970, Tarkus; Trilogy); Genesis (Selling England by the Pound; Nursery Cryme; Foxtrot; Trespass); Pink Floyd (Atom Heart Mother; Dark Side of the Moon; Animals; Wish You Were Here) Gentle Giant (Gentle Giant - first; Octopus; The Power and the Glory; Free Hand) Jethro Tull (Living In the Past; Thick as a Brick; Heavy Horses; Minstrel In The Gallery ) Renaissance (Ashes are Burning; Mother Russia; Live at Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) King Crimson (In the Court of the Crimson King ; Epitaph; Red) Supertramp (Even in the Quietest Moments; Crime of the Century; Breakfast in America) Traffic (Traffic 1968; The Low Spark of High-heeeled Boys) Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc...
One album that should have been mentioned is the 1978 release “Safety In Numbers” by the criminally underrated Crack The Sky. It is a brilliant album blending prog/hard rock/pop rock. Great writing/playing/singing and production. You must check it out if you haven’t heard it!!
I was about to reply and noticed your comment. I would hope Renaissance make the Obscure list at least. Scherazade or Ashes are Burning? nice list, and something I probably should try out myself. I would include many similar titles, but also change some (Yes, I go with Relayer for example..but Tarkus and Foxtrot..Argus and some others are favorites of mine as well).
Sea of Tranquility I was just going to mention them ! “Can You Understand” had that Chris Squire-esque Rickenbacker Bass vibe going.. the great Jon Camp.
One band , from America, who never gets any love but is one of the finest prog rock bands of the 70's and 80's is the band Crack The Sky. The song Nuclear Apathy is a classic of the genre.
Hey Pete, I’m 16 but I love all sorts of classic rock and prog rock. I heard all the albums on your list before except for a few like Flash, Dixie Dregs, and Max Webster. So, I finished the rest and they were great! Thanks for introducing me to some lesser known bands. Plus that Flash album is now a new favorite of mine
Great and sometimes surprising choices. Especially glad to see Focus, "Moving Waves" and Dixie Dregs, "What If" get a nod. I got to see Wishbone Ash and Nektar play a show together just after these albums came out; amazing.
No band made more than one album on your list, but one drummer made three: Bill Bruford: Yes, King Crimson, and UK. That says something.
Tecnique sound and creativiti
he IS the King of Prog Rock Drummers, UNLESS you consider Keith Moon.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/11/29/the-fun-stuff
Like that Bruford is a freakin master? Yes he is.. one badass drummer..
@evolver He was actually the live drummer for their first without Gabriel :)
Paul Kent Uk came at the wrong time
Too late
Camel is definitely underrated. Snow goose and mirage are incredible albums.
John Rambo I totally agree! Camel is an amazing group!
I really like ‘Mirage’ but not in the top echelon of prog rock bands for mine.....
John Rambo agree. I play Snow Goose every Christmas. Mirage is great too.
Moonmadness is probably their most most prog album.
I checked my collection- I only have Camel, Mirage and Snow Goose. I don’t think I ever owned Moonmadness. I’ll put it on my search list!
Foxtrot is a work of art! Suppers Ready still to this day is EPIC!!!!!!
Agreed but does anything stand up to Lamb? Not to me.
In the 1970s, Genesis had a phenomenal decade - despite losing Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett, they had eight albums that ranged from terrific to outright masterpiece.
@@jaywarren2126 what are you talking about? selling england by the pound is so much better than every other genesis album, even if you only include firth of fifth. When you add in dancing with the moonlit knight and battle of epping forest, there's just no comparison
@@shmendusel more like the battle of words and music
@@jaywarren2126 Lamb was my personal 2nd least favorite of the Gabriel-era albums. I couldn't get into the overuse of vocal effects on so many songs, especially when it sounded like a flanger or over-chorused effect, and several of the songs felt like filler used just to move the story along, and I really dislike the slimy sounding whisper voice on the Slipperman. My ranking would be Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound, Trespass, Nursery Crime, Lamb, and Genesis to Revelation. If I was including the Collins-era albums in my ranking, I'd put Lamb below Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering but above Duke
The Moody Blues get overlooked in this (and many other categories), but To Our Children's Children's Children is a progressive masterpiece. A sonic journey, and a perfect blend of emotion, intellect, light, shadow, joy, melancholy...and on and on. A true concept album, where every song blends into the next like shades in an impressionist painting.
Yes - the Moody Blues are the definition of Proggresive Rock.
Compllcated keyboard playing as in Yes, Gentle Giant, ELP may be impressive but are actually empty
Their wiki said it was released in '69. I agree about the band. But the stuff at the end of the 60s is their best IMHO. They did some good things in the '70s, but not as strong on the whold.
My favorite Moody Blues album
@@BP-kx2ig you couldn't have commentated a more superficial take than that
@@saukkonen1328 How is that superficial?
Thank you THANK you for including Focus. This album got me into rock music in the early 70's. I agree so much with your choices in many of your videos.
Close to the Edge brings me an inexplicable wonderful sensation! Nicest album of all time!
The pinnacle of prog music!
Glad you mentioned Gentle Giant, they really don't get enough props
Van der Graaf Generator: H to He Who Am the Only One
Fabulous band!
A very underated band for sure. Camel is super underatted too.
I LOVE Gentle Giant. They are not very popular, but they are my favorite progressive rock bands from the 70s,Renaissance and The Strawbs are also favorites of mine. Three great groups. Unfortunately all 3 groups are very under rated.
Saw them in 78 at Uptown Theater in Chicago and was so fortunate to see this unique band.
Close to the Edge will always be #1 for me. I've had it on vinyl for 30+ years and it probably gets more spins than any other record in my 1000+ LP collection. So good.
Wow! Impressive. I just bought the 35th Anniversary CD a few months ago. Love it. Check out the inside cover. I even ordered my 1st Yes Tshirt. I think maybe Fragile for me. I've had 90125 for atleast 10 yrs. Bought in local record store for a buck or two. Now, I am into the 180 gm vinyl. Not sure it is any better than original vinyl.
Siberian Khatru is maybe the greatest synthesis of prog with rock and roll. Loved it since I bought the album when it first wad released.
It's been in my car CD player for 16 years, need I say more?
1000 strong. I'm sure I have half that.
Close to the Edge is #2 for me, with Fragile being #1.
So many years and Kansas’s Magnum Opus still gives me chills when I hear it. Epic Prog, no other band can match this level of playing.
Agreed
Some can match the technical level no problem but the overall sound they put out is almost beyond description, mystical, majestic and gutsy all at once
Amen
The Pinnacle
OMG you are the greatest---Wishbone Ash Argus, one of the greatest albums of all time.
Being a huge fan of prog, Wishbone Ash is one of my favorites and Argus by far my favorite Wishbone Ash album. Good call. Surprised there is so little activity on your comment here!
@@larbueno My favourite also !!
@@larbueno Live Dates is my favorite, then debut album Wishbone Ash
@@alangm8378 I was so happy to see Camel, Wishbone Ash and Manfred Mann's Earth listed here!
Amen Marc! Maybe the greatest of all time. Certainly the best guitar album of all time.
Thanks for mentioning Max Webster! I have been a fan since 1977's 'High Class In Borrowed Shoes' and it's been frustrating that almost nobody mentioned them or knew about them. One of the gems of the 1970s hard rock/ prog rock genres and really a brilliant band.
So thrilled to finally see some love for Kansas...of course loved Leftoverture, but Kansas, Song for America and Masque...such amazing musicianship both instrumentally and vocally. Thanks for acknowledging their greatness!
You deserve an award for picking Jethro Tull´s Minstrel in the Gallery! my favourite album of all time, and gets so little recognition! Very well done!
Echo that sentiment ! Ministrel and Tull overall aren't appreciated enough. I have tons of prog and JT is probably, over the years, the prog group I've listened to most. And I consider ELP to be my favorite OAT !!
eribaldo Yes , absolutely! When I think about it . I’ve listened to Minstrel in the gallery more than any other Tull album, and I listened to them all a lot..
Not an award at all! TAAB! Minstrel in the Gallery is real good, though
I love Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. Most people never mention it. The finale of Todd Rundgren’s album Initiation, “A Treatise on Cosmic Fire,” is wild as hell, too.
My favorite Todd album...
Love the band
Yes, the Gabriel era of Genesis... "A time when honor meant more to a man than life" Another perfect choice!
I tuned in because I saw Focus - Moving Waves in his hand! Great great album...
Yeah, me too. Moving Waves WAS the 1970s
I discovered one of my favorite albums on this video... A Farewell To Kings. Thank you so much Pete, for introducing me to great new music!!!
Probably my favorite Rush album as well.
"Permanent waves"...
From Caress Of Steel to Permanent Waves is my favorite era. Rock on! 🎸🥁🎤
Thank heavens someone likes Todd Rundgren's UTOPIA
Quadrant14 Love ❤️ Road to Utopia. Saw them in the summer of '81 in Asbury Park convention hall. God I'm old 😊
You mean Todd 'is GODD' Rundgren ♥️ GENIUS
Gerard McCarthy You are so right 😊
Love Utopia
LOVE ALL HIS WORK!
King Crimson. Nailed it. That’s always been my take on it as well.
"The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" is by far,the greatest Genesis "prog rock" album and one of the greatest of all time."Fly on a windshield"."Back in NYC","Carpet Crawlers","Lilywhite Lilith"."The Lamia"."The Colony of Slippermen",etc.Gabriel's lyrics surreal.Before that "Supper's Ready" set the scene.
I got to respectfully disagree. I love Genesis, but I never really liked The Lamb.
@@Larsangel agree. just can't get into it. and i try still every so often
@@Larsangel Me neither-it's easily my least favorite of the Gabriel era. Even Steve Hackett once said that when they were recording the music Gabriel wasn't around (tending to the birth of his first kid) and then when he came back he was singing over many sections that Hackett thought were going to be instrumental sections and/or tracks. You can hear it if you listen closely as the music in the 'background' sometimes clashes with the vocals. Plus I hate the sound of the album-gone were the lush orchestral keyboards and the wonderful hybrid of acoustic and electric guitars, changed I guess for a 'tougher' sound, but a sound which I dont' think at all suits Genesis int he 1970's era.
Nigel..you got it right ! Don't listen to your Replys ! Lamb has got it all ! Artwork, great story (of course it's weird !!) and is a total muscle prog album. Band is at it's height of music prowess and Gabriel's vocals are also. Lamb is the Genesis album that let you know that the earlier albums were dangerously close to sounding formulaic. Lamb chopped up the whole Supper's Ready/Musical Box thematic lifeboat that became a stagnation worry. Don't get me wrong I like earlier Genesis..love Selling England...but it all needed messing up and Lamb did just that in a wonderful way. I tend to be a Gabriel-only Genesis fan but also do feel cuts off of Duke and ABACAB to be just as good.
Some really bad choices here.
Dude, this immediately became one of my favourite videos on youtube. You took me right back to the time of my teens when music was so much more than just a catchy tune. Music was magical back then. Every new album was an adventure. Thank you so much for reminding me about so much stuff I had forgotten.
Holdsworth's solo on UK's In The Dead Of Night makes me smile everytime I hear it--a minute and a half of pure brilliance.
Thanks for this run down of classic prog rock bands. Glad to see someone mentioned The Stawbs Heroes and Heroines. Another one worth mentioning is McDonald and Giles (titled the same) which includes the Birdman Suite. Pink Floyd and early King Crimson are my all time favorites. At the ripe old age of 66 I still play them daily.
The Jethro Tull assessment was spot on...my favorite is also Benefit...followed by Minstrel in the Gallery....then Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Passion Play, and the rest....Jethro Tull was always my favorite band of all time...and always will be....
The same to me , Jethro Tull forever , the best progressive rock band , they produced 23 masterpieces without counting the Ian Anderson solo albums , there is no musician in prog rock as Ian Anderson, he is the most talented smart musician.
Thank you for spreading the good word of UK. I had never heard of them prior to this. I'm 15 and just started getting into music and UK were a great taste of 70's prog
My wife is South American and introduced me to Camel. I guess they were pretty popular down south. Anyway, I really grew to appreciate them. Really soothing, jazzy prog rock.
Focus is one of the most underrated bands who made truly beautiful prog music.Also underrated is Harmonium
Thanks for having mentioned Harmonium, I love to listen their symphonic folk/prog. They refused to sing in English, otherwise they surely have conquered the states..
Harmonium is only underrated in that they were completely unknown in the States, which is no surprise when they sung in French, but in their native Quebec they were superstars. I've met a few people from Quebec and I bring up Harmonium and they totally know what I'm talking about.
Mr. Mike please check out my recently released interview with Sir Thijs van Leer of FOCUS filmed aboard Cruise to the Edge. I have additional forthcoming interviews with Sir Thijs, guitarist Menno, & bassist Udo, as well as many more Prog legends & up-and-coming artists in various genres. Enjoy! #pallasonair ua-cam.com/video/iEPELSY5nb4/v-deo.html
Les Cinq Saisons, one of the greatest albums of all time. L'Heptade is great too.
@@Max-ro7sz y
Todd Rundgren’s Utopia - Utopia is one of my most favorite albums of all time
Don't you ever fuh-king forget
Nyoom big time
@@humphreysmiggens3881 HIROSHIMA!
Tell it Nyoom !!!
Utopia RA
ELP's "Brain Salad Surgery" (as well as Tarkus) should be on the list....
14:00
One album per group
@@joeking5310 BSS is considered their most accomplished by fans and themselves..
Thrilled to see you include "One Size Fits All"! One of my favorite albums of all-time!!
I saw Gentle Giant 6 times from 1974-1977' I think their best shows were the 75-76' era, GG Always much better Live and to see them all playing so many different instruments and having so much fun on stage was so great !!!
That's why GG Double Live album "Playing the Fool" is just the best and really captures those Live moments and sounds !! : D
Seen many bands live but GG by far was the best show ever
What is the best Gentle Giant album if you had to pick one?
@@Acujeremy Well everyone seems to love Octopus of course and it's the first one I heard then backtrack to find out about GG, but all these like most of Giant's songs are so much better live ! I Guess my Favs today are "Power and the Glory" and "Free Hand" and there so close for me but I also love "Interview" with is quite smart what they're doing on that concept album I think ! And Like "Freehand" and even "The Missing Piece" which those songs are great Live Lol.
Well you can see I'm very conflicted with GG but they are just great and in that Classic time if you were around like myself going between Boston (I lived in the area), Providence,RI, Worcester and NYC to follow our favorite Prog Bands of this era ... Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, ELP, Nektar and Gentle Giant !! Those years 1972' through 1977' were just so fantastic and magical with 75-76" the Best for Giant !
I wish we had today's Cell phones so we could have captured it !! But it's I my memory as long as I can remember it !! Lol : D
Thanks for posting !!
@@ronniefarnsworth6465 Gentle Giant is one of those bands where I have heard some of their songs, seem some live video clips, know they are extremely talented, but I don't know them well at all. I've actually never listened to an entire GG album. My favorite Prog bands are Yes, King Crimson and Gabriel era Genesis. So if there is one pinnacle album for me to listen to and really get to know, which one do you recommend?
@@Acujeremy I would really do the Live album - "Playing the Fool" it sounds great and cover many albums on their 75'-76' tours and you can hear & feel the energy and their incredible talents playing their many instruments and vocal harmonies !!
Thrust me it's Great !! Enjoy and thanks for posting !! : )
Octopus - oh Yes. Your King Crimson & Tull selections are spot ON
I've been on this channel for not long and have already learned so many new bands, thank you!
TUBULAR BELLS!!!
The Exorcist is a very silly movie. The only thing seriously worthy about it is the Tubular Bells excerpt.
Yes
Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells 2" is honestly a worthy follow-up. Check it out.
I couldn't get stoned enough even then.
@@satanofficial3902 Silly perhaps....funny...of course.
A Farewell to Kings is the Album that I was introduced to RUSH. Still a classic today. 👍😎
Hell yeah! Tarkus blows the water off Brain Salad, Trilogy does too. Trilogy is my personal favorite.
I really can't stand BSS. the day I bought it was one of the worst day of my life, because it didn't sound greet like Tarkus, or Trilogy
If I can only own one ELP, it's Trilogy.
Trilogy was my first ELP and almost first album ever...one of my sisters friend held up an Allman Bros album and Trilogy and said you can have one. I reached for the Allman Bros and he pulled that one back and pushed Trilogy forward like..no you want this one. I got it and it changed my music life. BSS' problem is all the compression used in it's recording. Sounds like someone sucked the air out of the room. But it's great music and Welcome Back...shows it off much better.
Have all Gentle Giant albums. My favorite prog group.
Gentle Giant my favorite progressive rock group from the 70s. I have all of there albums too. But all of them I have on vinyl,which I played over and over again,on my 3 turntables .Very under rated but they make GREAT music.
Me 2
Don't know why , but I like Acquiring the Taste above all the Gentle Giant albums
Sure! In a Glass House is, probably, my favorite music work. But (almost) all of them are pure gold (Giant for a day just doesn´t make my day and Side 1 of Missing Piece wouldn't be missed, though)...
I'm Italian and it's great you spoke about our '70s Prog Scene! And really love all the other great albums you put in your list, we prefer same albums from many bands, like Crime of the Century, Foxtrot, Animals, Close to the Edge... Great masterpieces!
I would like to suggest another great Italian Prog Band, I'm talking about Area. They made very complicated Prog Rock with multi influences from Prog, Jazz, Indian and Etnic music. Their singer, Demetro Stratos, was known for being a poliphonic singer. He could do multiple voices together... Incredible! When he died PFM made a song for him, called Maestro Della Voce (that means Voice's Master). Anyway hope you'll read this and you will like Area..
@Chirag Bansal great 🤘😎
I'm from Mexico, and been a great fan of italian prog rock from de 70's. PFM is my favorite , but love all the other great bands from that era. Had the chance to see some of them playing in my home town (Mexicali, Mex) during BAJA PROG FESTIVAL (from late 90s to early 2000's.) there are some videos in YT from those concerts. Saludos Alessandro!!
@@rigovalenz that's really great! PFM is an awesome band, I love them like Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso... Another great band
Museo Rosenbach 🥰
@@Soundbrigade great! And Osanna, Le Orme, Il Balletto di Bronzo, Il Rovescio della Medaglia... There was a very prolific scene here in the 70s
A Farewell to Kings, Moonmadness & Tarkus! Great Picks!!
LOVED YOUR REVIEWS. FROM SOMEONE WHO THRIVED ON 70'S ROCK AND PROG, WE HIT ON A LOT OF THE SAME CLASICS.
Glad you included Max Webster. I’ve seen Kim Mitchell a number of times and Max way way back. Love them
Live album is awesome
Pink Floyd Animals.... in High School (1979) I was tripping on LSD listening to the album. The guitar solo at the end of Sheep the music came out of the speakers, written on sheet music paper, in neon colors. As the solo bounced around, the music bounced off the walls of my bedroom, changing colors.
Been there, my friend. 💨💭🧠🗣
Eloy - Gernany's best kept prog rock secret. I saw them play once here in the UK at the Marquee in London in 1984 and went out to Germany in 2012 and 2013 to Berlin and Cologne respectively to see them also. I actually had tears of joy in my eyes when they walked on stage in Berlin, a truly awesome concert. I've been a complete fan of theirs since the Planets album came out.
Brilliant band
Ich war auch bei 3 traumhaften Konzerten von Eloy
ELP is favorite prog band (Renaissance, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Triumvirat my other favs)I have always felt that Trilogy was their best. They were at their height of musicianship, virtuosity, tightness. Amazing compositions. I can understand why you went with Tarkus. Interestingly, I always felt Tarkus came across so much better in concert))
Brain Saald Surgery best for me
@@tonyburrows1346 Tarkus comes 1st
@@t3chnod3lic great but not quite BSS imho
"Picture at exhibition" is my favorite...
@@tonyburrows1346 Agreed. Brain Salad Surgery is the top album of their whole discography. Their most sophisticated and most refined album. And one of the finest sound engineering one. 👍
My personal top ten -: 10). Barclay James Harvest ' Time Honoured Ghosts', 9). Caravan ' Cunning Stunts', 8). Procol Harum ' Home' , 7). ELO ' El Dorado', 6). Supertramp ' Crisis What Crisis', 5). Camel ' Moonmadness', 4). Steve Hackett ' Voyage of the Acolyte', 3). Yes 'Going For The One, 2). Pink Floyd 'Animals', 1).Genesis ' Selling England By The Pound'.
Thanks for including PFM ( Cook,live in Canada) and Gentle Giant ( Missing Piece),two very much underrated bands.Keep up the good work.
Jethro Tull's 1970's albums are uniformly excellent. I love them all more and more for different reasons as I get older.
I love it when I hear folks speak highly of the huge talent of Jethro Tull !! You know oddly enough my least favorite albums of JT are Thick as a Brick and Aqualung ! Don't know that I've ever heard those more than twice a piece ! In constant rotation are the middle to later 70's ...Minstrel in the Gallery on up to Stormwatch.
But Stormwatch for whatever reason, didn't do it for me and I pretty much stop purchasing their output after that except for the occasional Nightcap or compilation containing unreleased songs...stuff like that. But I listen to them now more than most other Prog groups...holds up better than others.
@@EastmanD I probably listen to "Aqualung" and "Thick as a Brick" the least of that 70's run. I also was never much a fan of "Stormwatch," but I pulled it out again a couple of years ago and it clicked with me for some reason. Maybe because I'm getting old! It's definitely a more contemplative record. My favorite Tull albums are probably "A Passion Play," "War Child" and "Songs from the Wood." I've seen them nine times and they're always a fantastic show. I've always felt Ian Anderson is underrated as a songwriter. There's authentic poetry in those lyrics. "Cup of Wonder" could adorn any respectable poetry journal in the world!
@@bradhollowniczky3503 you know, I had a buddy that was a Tull fan right along side me and when Stormwatch came out I just didn't really pay attention. He always said "you don't know what you missing , it's as good as...". Came back to'em around 1980, thumbing through a record bin and saw "A"...now I'm a definite 70's prog guy and along with fantastic music you also got fantastic album covers from all kinds of artists ! So when I saw the purple/pink glow with the Close Encounters-ish "motif" I was like "oh sh*t" he's gone off the deep end" (remember they use to play live in those ridiculous white "technicians" outfits !!) and I just about wrote off JT then and there.
So Stormwatch really got glossed over by me and maybe it's about time I gave my buddy some credit and give it a second go. I imagine I've heard more of it than I realize via box sets like the original release of 20 Years of Jethro Tull that I loved ! But it's best to hear the music from the original album with the original listing of the tunes so I'll give it a shake.
Your favs are fantastic Tull and getting to see them 9 times truly makes me envious. I saw Tull but it was late like 2005 or something like that but it was good and I enjoyed it. But the "one that got away" was when JT came around (I'm from Bama so bands like Tull were infrequent visitors to the south) sometime about 1979 and was THE hot ticket of the season. For whatever reason I DIDN'T GO! Classic Tull...probably still had Barlow and maybe still had Glascock playing with them...I mean perhaps the same stage show as Bursting Out which is one of my top 5 Live albums OAT !! That one still makes me cringe. An album I don't have that I recently caught wind of is Acoustic Tull and I love their acoustic as much or more than their hard stuff so I think I need that one. Cheers.
Songs from the Woods was a turn from the Too Old...Aqualung War Child to a minstrel country squire sound Heavy Horses was similiar but I began to wane following them
Jethro Tull 70s line up, is probably the best lineup ever exited , I mean between all Prog rock bands . D Palmer, I Anderson, M Barre , B Barlow , J Evan and J Hammon/ J Glasckock .
Clicked on this just to see if Camel made the list.
So did I. They were never underrated just underknown.
Me too...
Oh my goodness Wishbone Ash’s Argus is beautiful! I’m glad I checked it out, thank you so much for making me aware of it!
Phoenix....Check out this track by WA.
It is gorgeous!
Here’s a few maybe more obscure : Curved Air , Air Conditioning. Colosseum 11 , War Dance. National Health. Greenslade, Bedside manners are extra. Caravan, Land of Grey and Pink. Amon Duul 11, Wolf City. Kayak, See the Sun. Kraftwerk, Autobahn. Can Future Days. Matching Mole. Gong, Flying Teapot.
Ahhh the Canterbury scene a lot of them,wet my Jazz Fusion whistle on them and Mahavishnu of course !! : )
Yeah, Amon Duul II - Amon Duul II always in my personal billboard
I'm way into the Canterbury shit. Soft Machine Third and and Robert Waytt's Rock Bottom are tops, not to mention Hatfield, Caravan, etc.
Yep i am with you on this...great list.
Caravan is such a great band, too bad their albums are super hard to find. I wouldn't mind picking up a few of their releases!
My pick is Tales From Topographic Oceans--won't appear here, but I love it.
This is my pick for Yes also, but I totally understand people going for Close to the edge instead.
Hones The only thing that puts it behind CTTE for me is “The Ancient.” Not a fan of the 18 minute, rambling, incoherent guitar solo. The rest of the album slaps, though.
Great choice. It is an underrated album. Absolutely beautiful.
LOVE it. Top of my list.
Yes that is top class - I’m with ya
Love that you had a Max Webster selection. I grew up in Toronto and saw them live many times. Always one of my favorite 70s bands.
Excellent. Would have liked to see Saga make the list as well.
Focus, “Moving Waves” - my introduction to prog and still a sentimental fave! I bought it (age 12) for Hocus Pocus; was I ever unprepared for the rest of the album but it converted me for life.
Max Webster were label-mates of Rush (Anthem Records in Canada) and used to tour together. I used to go to their shows and preferred Max a lot more.
PFM were briefly signed to Arista Records in the US; they played some American cities that had Italian communities, recorded live and studio material in the US too.
So glad to see bands from the jazzy/avant side of the Prog spectrum well represented. It seems like the majority of Prog writers/commentators only mention Crimson and nobody else from that side. I mainly prefer that jazzy side of prog.
You missed the entire Canterbury Scene!!! Soft Machine, Caravan, Robert Wyatt, Matching Mole, Hatfield & The North, Kevin Ayers .. and their links with Gong. How could you! They were the best progressives ever.
All of those should be on there as well as Brand X and Mahavishnu Orchestra, maybe even Santana (especially with McLaughlin). Bowie?
I LOVE Kevin Ayers, his music is as great to day as it was back in the 60s
I was lucky enough to see him live in about 2003. He showed up with a band and played his best known songs. His voice was as smooth and rich as it ever was. "Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes" still makes me want to rave. "Thank you ... very ... much. Bye bye!"
No.....don't agree.
Watch Parts 2 & 3 of this series! The Canterbury scene is covered in those.
I was surprised there was no mention of “I, Robot” by the Alan Parsons Project (a later video ranks this as Pete’s #1 album by APP). I also think “Queen II” has many prog elements.
Love that you included the Italian band PFM in your collection. They are really good. Another foreign language band you should include for a top Progressive Rock is the French-Canadian (Quebecois) band Harmonium. They only released three albums but they were really creative and prolific. I recommend the first and third albums.
Great that the incredible Van der Graaf Generator gets a mention, Pawn Hearts is stunning, and VDGG are simply amazing. Personally, I would have included Softmachine’s incredible album, Third, but it’s your list not mine. Good stuff.
I still play the Focus stuff to this day 47 years later. Saw them in 73....epic!
'Earth & Fire' is another great band from Holland.
Wonderful live band ... saw them 5 times 73 onwards...
I'm talking about Focus
Someone mentioned B Bruford as a musician who made three bands in the list. A virtuoso, no doubt. But nobody seems to remember another legend: John Wetton. King Crimson, UK, and Wishbone Ash. All mentioned in this review. (RIP)
Also Family and Renaissance, neither on the list
Asia
Uriah Heep
perfectly agree for Larks tongue in Aspic. out of this world
Wonderfully heavy, dreamy and even at times creepy album. Absolutely love it!
Red,Red,Red!
Brain Salad Surgery is one of the best prog albums of the '70s. Incredible album cover/artwork as well. Giger.
I have to give it to BSS over Tarkus too, but it's real close. The Tarkus suite is brilliant, but that LP falls a little flat on side 2. BSS is great throughout, but what really tips it for me is "Toccata" - you don't get much more bombastic than that!
I'd go with "Trilogy" over BSS, mainly for the title track.
Agreed. And one of the best sound engineering masterworks too.
My personal favorite top 10 prog albums of the 70s....in chronological order:
Gentle Giant: Octopus (1972)
ELP: Trilogy (1972)
Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick (1972)
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Genesis: Selling England by the Pound (1973)
Yes: Relayer (1974)
King Crimson: Red (1974)
Todd Rundgren's Utopia (1974)
Camel: The Snow Goose (1975)
Soft Machine: Softs (1976)
Obviously tons of other prog albums I love too that could all have easily been on the list, but I think these ten albums best sum up and represent my love of the genre...
Very happy to see these on your list,Gentle Giant,Van DER Graff Generator, Eloy, U.K, Nektsr. Good job , will look forward to future lists
Argus by Wishbone Ash is my favourite album of all time.
Renaissance were immaculate from 1972-79
Musicianship of the highest order, gorgeous melodies, arrangements, a bassist to easily rival Chris Squire
and the incredible voice of Annie Haslam.
Ashes are Burning or Novella, for me
Excellent inclusion...a sadly underrated / under appreciated group.
@Mike Watkins ..a well deserved toast to you my friend!
Yes Renaissance Turn of the Cards for me. Mother Russia .....awesome.
All except for 2 Jon Camp songs....She is Love and Only Angels have Wings....yuck!
Also Live at Carnegie Hall and A Song For All Seasons
Gentle Giant!! Thanks for picking that
So glad to see Nektar on your list! Saw them more times than any band in the 70’s. Honorable mention to Recycled, especially the side 1 epic. With Larry Fast’s wizardry added, songs like Cybernetic Consumption would take me for a ride, especially with headphones on! A different genre but up there for me in that era was Fast’s Synergy/Electronic Realizations.
I agree saw them 5 times in the mid 70's. Amazing band to see live.their sound was impeccable. I would have put recycled on that list also.they also had an incredible light show going on when they performed live. Excellent band.Good choice in
Book of Saturday. One of the most beautiful songs ever.
Mad props for "Larks Tongue's in Aspic" monster, killer album with a great line-up!...
Jethro Tull, a great band I saw three times, twice in Phoenix, ( the first time just around the release of thier second album, and right after Martin Barre joined, with Zephyr opening... Again at the Phoenix Memorial Colleseum, and finally at Wembley stadium in London in '73, with Barrymore Barlow in place of Clive Bunker... The most progressive show Ivy seen em do... Saw Focus in Phoenix, killer set...
Love Pawn Hearts by Van DER Graf... PFM, photos of Ghosts and Cook... Gentle Giant, ( though I'm not as familiar with them as I'd like...) And Camel-- Mirage, The Snow Goose, and Moon madness... And the later ones with Richard Sinclair, who I admired from Caravan and Hatfield..
Yeah, Wishbone Ash, Argus, and Rundgren's Utopia, and Initiation... Never so big on Styx, no offense, but I considered them "fake prog"... Liked by kids who also liked bands like REO and Meat Loaf... No thanks..
My favorite 'Floyd albums (slough I liked 'em all) were Ummagumma, ( bridged the gap from the Syd Barrett era and the David Gillmour era... Kansas, I kinda lumped in with Styx (although I liked em better ) Italian prog, PFM, P. O. G. ( Produced by Pere Sinfield, known from working with :Crimson- helped theirs credibility in the English speaking world) You Didn't mention one of my favorite Italian prog groups, Area, which ventures into the fusion camp somewhat, and Dedallus, more of a fusion instrumental band with great lead guitars, keyboards and saxes, and I D K who else at the moment, Aphrodite's Child,666 -+ although I think they were Greek, not Italian... They had the keyboardist Vangelis, who did the great album Heaven and He'll, and rose to fame with (oh hell, what was that called about the Olympic running champion- real good, and it's on the tip of my tongue...)
Qué grande, Andy Latimer...Mi guitarrista favorito, de lejos.
el mio es Tomatito !
Glad to hear about Wishbone Ash and Rundgren
Dude! You know your stuff!! Great music and great bands that I also love. I'm shocked you left off Brand X with Phil Collins, Percy Jones, Robin Lumley, etc. And.. Renaissance.
Brand X is covered in my Top Fusion albums of the 70s show, and Renaissance is in Part 2 of the Top Prog Albums of the '70s show.
Thank you for including Max Webster! 🎸
Max Webster with Rush...Battlescar. Bust the Busters 💯🔥
Speakin' my language with this music. Nice to see Todd Rundgren/Utopia mentioned. Max Webster, too. Great stuff.
A good many of the albums mentioned have been re-issued in deluxe editions that include 5.1 Surround mixes on Blu-ray or DVD discs. Prog is the absolute *prefect* genre for Surround listening! Also, some of these deluxe issues include all-instrumental versions of this classic music. Hearing “Octopus” or “Close to the Edge” without any vocals is a whole new experience! You can hear so many new subtle background things that you never noticed before.
Any prog fan who lacks a 5-channel home theatre system for Surround listening should really try to get one if they possibly can. It’s become the most important thing I own.
I have quite a few Steven Wilson 5.1s: all the Yes, all the Gentle Giant, many King Crimson ect.
Great list of Prog bands, especially Nektar!
What a list I own most of these. Love the props for Camel and Nektar. If he pulled out Caravan I would lose it. Great list man!
My older brother always liked Wishbone Ash. I, being younger, and perhaps more in tune with the bestselling prog bands like Tull, Yes, and King Crimson, thought Wishbone Ash was not melodic enough. My older brother had a musical sensibility all his own. Countless cut-out albums from Chicago, mostly black blues music, made up the bulk of his collection at one point. Thanks for mentioning Wishbone Ash. my older brother died a few years ago, and that band name made me remember him!
Great Job! Genesis is number 1 prog! I do agree! Congratulations!
Fish Out of Water - Chris Squire. Great album but anything with Bill Bruford on drums is killer. Gentle Giant and Focus - My Favorites!
You have great taste (like me haha), superb artists, supreme musicians all.
MrPorter7 Fish Out of Water is one of my all-time favorite albums. Please check out my recently released interview with Sir Thijs van Leer of Focus filmed aboard Cruise To The Edge, with many more interview releases forthcoming. Enjoy! ua-cam.com/video/iEPELSY5nb4/v-deo.html
I wish Chris Squire had released more solo albums, he's my favorite bassist of all time.
Gotta go with "Selling England..." over Foxtrot but it's close
It's actually hard to choose between the 2.
PlasticCow01 No argument on either, yet I still reach for Lamb Lies Down On Broadway with pure joy.
I d go with "Selling England..." and "A Trick of the tail" as their best, but then again I like almost everything they did. Only their last two albums are...let s say "debatable"..Whatever, what a band!
Yes I agree
A trick of the tale for me. Love it all but Trick is my fave Genesis album. It's a masterpiece.
Someone besides me still loves compact discs.
I love the band Yes but! Gentle giant! The album interview! Can't be matched! In my humble opinion!
This will change all the time over the years but this is today !!
1, Foxtrot - Genesis
2, Close to Edge - Yes
3, Starless and Bible Black - King Crimson
4, Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
5, A Tab in the Ocean - Nektar
6, Playing the Fool - Gentle Giant
7, Space Ritual - Hawkwind
8, Fragile - Yes
9, In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson ( I know 1969 but can't leave it out )
10, The Lamb - Genesis
11, Tarkus - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
12, Bursting Out - Jethro Tull
13, Red - King Crimson
14, Remember the Future - Nektar
15, Hall of the Mountain Grill - Hawkwind
Well it will be different in a month !! Lol There are really 30+ great Prog albums easy !! I LOVE Rush But I think only really 3 Prog albums and before and after is Hard Rock to me but I Love there Prog period !! And the 1st and only the first UK album is a monster just Awesome !! And I cheated because I could make up my mind on them so Tull & Giant I put their Live albums down, saw GG 4 times 75, (2)76, 77 always the best shows so much fun watching these True Multi-instrumentalist !! : )
YES .... Nektar !! In my Top 5 Prog, "Tab in the Ocean", "Remember the Future" Trust me Kids try it, You'll Love it !!! : D
Ronnie Farnsworth just found “Remember the future” a few weeks back and oh my this just melts honey into my ears. It’s probably the sweetest, warmest thing i’ve ever heard. Btw still haven’t heard in my short 25 years anything comparable to Dvorak’s cello concerto. That’s somehow way beyond music to me.
@@mozsardaniel9184 Excellent, glad you found them !! Always happy when someone younger finds Classic Prog, there is so much of it from the best years 1969'-78' If you ever need some help finding some just post me here, I'm old enough and was lucky to see most of these bands starting with my older Brother that schooled me Lol. Thanks for posting !! : )
Saw Nektar back in the 70s. As well as being great musically they had one of the best light shows I have ever seen.
@@stevebinning977 Yes sir, Mick Brockett on liquid lights and Slides !! I was lucky to see them in Passaic, NY at the Capitol Theater May 9th, 1975' just after their Academy or Music shows in NYC that I missed. I had tickets for their earlier Remember The Future tour in Boston,MA in 1974' (2nd row) but that show and a bunch more were cancelled because Roye Albrighton got Hepatitis !!! It sucks that he died at 67' July 27th, 2016' !! I still listen to Nektar all the time. : )
www.sonicperspectives.com/features/remembering-nektar-roye-albrighton/
Journeys 1st album was pretty proggy...and great
@@patrickallen1628 dude Joureny's 1st album wasn't with S.Perry/pop rock. My fav album from Journey. Their first 3 albums were progressive rock/jazz fushion style before S.Perry vocals took over!
Very great
James Mack First album by them is incredible. Still listening frequently after hearing it over 30 years ago. Classic.
Yeah I remember being blown away after hearing their music in either a prog rock compilation or my spotify discover weekly, and then my jaw dropped when I looked to see I was listening to Journey!
Love their first 2-3 albums! such phenomenal music!, before they changed... :(
Wow this video instantly earned my subscription. This guy know his prog. He put every band that needed to be on this list and more.
"Pawn Hearts"! "Utopia"! "Moving Waves"! "Lark's tongues"! "Moonmadness"! "Animals"! Big Faves of mine. Cheers Pete!
Best concert I ever saw was Nektar love Foxtrot and yeow, Max Webster! Be still my Canadian heart
I saw Nektar at their reunion concert in London around 2004. There's two times I have cried with joy at a concert - once when Eloy walked on stage in Berlin in 2012 and the other time when Nektar started their set in 2004 with the opening chords of "A Tab In The Ocean". Roye Albrighton, RIP.
Just listen to Christmas (later Spirit of Christmas) too! Also a great Canadian band. And don’t forget April Wine (rock).
My list of the best progressive rock albums of all the times is:
Yes (Fragile; Relayer; Close to the Edge; Tales from Topographic Oceans)
Focus (Moving Waves; Focus III; Hamburger Concerto);
Emerson Lake and Palmer (ELP 1970, Tarkus; Trilogy);
Genesis (Selling England by the Pound; Nursery Cryme; Foxtrot; Trespass);
Pink Floyd (Atom Heart Mother; Dark Side of the Moon; Animals; Wish You Were Here)
Gentle Giant (Gentle Giant - first; Octopus; The Power and the Glory; Free Hand)
Jethro Tull (Living In the Past; Thick as a Brick; Heavy Horses; Minstrel In The Gallery )
Renaissance (Ashes are Burning; Mother Russia; Live at Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
King Crimson (In the Court of the Crimson King ; Epitaph; Red)
Supertramp (Even in the Quietest Moments; Crime of the Century; Breakfast in America)
Traffic (Traffic 1968; The Low Spark of High-heeeled Boys)
Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc...
I like Klaatu if you know them
@@ktongmm
I didn't know it, but I heard now and I liked ... thanks
@@steveneast8572 It's very good to...
Thank you for mentioning Relayer. Amazing album and I'm not just talking about the cool cover art.
One album that should have been mentioned is the 1978 release “Safety In Numbers” by the criminally underrated Crack The Sky. It is a brilliant album blending prog/hard rock/pop rock. Great writing/playing/singing and production. You must check it out if you haven’t heard it!!
Very good band, but their first album is far superior to "Safety in Numbers."
pozdrav iz Srbije. Hvala na predlozima. We here also love ELP, Yes, King Crimson, Floyd, Focus and all that great names. Long live R`R. Salute
"Close to the Edge". Ok, you may continue.
Also I was blown away by Atomic Rooster’s Death Walks Behind You. I’ve always considered it borderline prog.
Just realized I left out Renaissance!!!! Ugh...
I was about to reply and noticed your comment. I would hope Renaissance make the Obscure list at least. Scherazade or Ashes are Burning?
nice list, and something I probably should try out myself. I would include many similar titles, but also change some (Yes, I go with Relayer for example..but Tarkus and Foxtrot..Argus and some others are favorites of mine as well).
1969
Definitely an underappreciated band.
Yes! Ashes are Burning...one of the finest prog songs of the 70's
Sea of Tranquility I was just going to mention them ! “Can You Understand” had that Chris Squire-esque Rickenbacker Bass vibe going.. the great Jon Camp.
One band , from America, who never gets any love but is one of the finest prog rock bands of the 70's and 80's is the band Crack The Sky. The song Nuclear Apathy is a classic of the genre.
Hey Pete, I’m 16 but I love all sorts of classic rock and prog rock. I heard all the albums on your list before except for a few like Flash, Dixie Dregs, and Max Webster. So, I finished the rest and they were great! Thanks for introducing me to some lesser known bands. Plus that Flash album is now a new favorite of mine
The Dixie Dregs album gave me an eargasm!
Great and sometimes surprising choices. Especially glad to see Focus, "Moving Waves" and Dixie Dregs, "What If" get a nod. I got to see Wishbone Ash and Nektar play a show together just after these albums came out; amazing.
I agree with you on Lark's and Farewell To Kings!!