Where the **** is Big Generator, eh? EH?

Yeah but few bands have a debut as kickass as that first King Crimson album.

I used to think the first Yes album was pretty forgettable but it's grown on me a lot over the years, nowadays I'd rank it above Time and a Word which is good but the use of orchestration feels clumsy and forced, Magnification was a much better execution of the same idea.

The first Yes Album was just so behind. The Nice 'Ars Longa Vita Brevis' was another one from earlir in 1968 that was well in front being probably the first Prog album, seen as Prog was a British invention

:shycouch:

Not even close. Check my History of Prog thread. 1968? Well well before that.

In my opinion Days of Future Passed is the first progressive rock album but I think most people can agree that it was In the Court of the Crimson King that truly kickstarted prog as as a movement.

Is Days of Future Passed really a progressive rock album though? If, so, you have to consider Sgt. Pepper as a progressive album and maybe even Zappa's Freak Out before that.


Probably agree that Crimson jump started the genre though, though you could also argue the Nice and the Soft Machine.

< Tales from Topographic Oceans

'67 seems to be where it's at. Freak Out, Piper, Days of Future Passed, Sgt Peppers all contenders, but for my money the winner is Procol Harum. The first album I heard from this year that I could call a real proper prog album.

No not real proper prog what ever that means LOL.

All the above you mentioned aren not Prog albums. LOL. Just because say Sgt peppers was full of experimentation does not make it progressive, you are just assuming it fits the bill However they are more related to Psychedia than anything, Only the years from then to near the back end of the 60's thru Proto prog bands into Crossover prog did major labels create offshoots such as EMI Harvest & Swirl Vertigo. Styles in music are very short before they morph into other things as were the longevity of Swirl Vertigo & RCA Neon.

The Pink Floyd & Soft Machine were doing things in 1967 that were not disimular to What Tangerine Dream were doing at the Zodiac club (TD were not a synth band originally) , Berlin around the same time, No way on earth is it Progressive Rock.

I've long been an avid defender of that album so while I disagree with this take I respect your chutzpah.

Genres are things we made up.

The funny thing about that album is people dont like it yet Some of Steve Howe & Rick Wakeman best playing is within the album. Jon Anderson solo LP: 'Olias Of Sunhillow' should be attractive to Topographics fans because its it very simular atmosphere to it.

Lol I was hoping to stir up **** cause I remember an ancient thread with Urban ****ting on it and you being like yeah even prog nerds think it's wank.

I'll give it a shot. Topographic Oceans is everything I want from an overblown 70s prog album.

Put it this way. Prog is everything i live for in music but i wouldnt be seen dead with any prog album past 1972.

So a dad rocker.

No just someone that knows what good & naff Prog is LOL

I think Tales is a great album that falls just short of being a masterpiece because it is a bit padded out in places, there was too much good material for a single LP but not quite enough for a double LP, a victim of the limitations of vinyl, also the production of the original album was a little murky and the 2016 Steven Wilson remaster is a big improvement.

Olias of Sunhillow is a lovely underrated gem of an album, definitely needs more recognition.

Did I say that? In prog circles it's rather divisive but it's not universally disliked, yeah some people hate it but it also has some pretty vocal fans including myself.

It's rating on ProgArchives is 3.91 which is not bad though that is still a bit lower than most of their 70s albums, still it's no Tormato which is their true nadir from that decade.

As not an insufferable prog nerd I don't care if it's padded. The heights it reaches are unmatched.

You won't like it.

Sorry but this is nonsense. I've been a prog head since 1980 or thereabouts and while a lot of what's said to be prog is not, Moody Blues (to an extent but really only with the next album), Floyd and Procol Harum are definitely prog. Fight me.
REALLY fight me now. So no Lamb, no Script, no Octane, no ABWH? Get outta here! :D

Edit: I also find that phrase "wouldn't be caught dead with..." hilarious. Imagine the scene.

Cop 1: "Looks like someone worked him over real good. Lot of anger there."
Cop 2: "Sick mother all right. What's that in his hand there?"
Cop 1 (hunkering down - stands up and runs to the corner making retching noises): "Jesus ****ing Christ!"
Cop 2: "What is it? What is it?"
Cop 1 (indicating behind him without turning, continuing to retch): "Look! Just ****ing LOOK at it!"
Cop 2: "Looks like... oh my god! A - I - I don't believe this! A PROG ALBUM FROM AFTER 1972! I - I think I'm gonna be sick!"
Cop 1 and 2: "Bastard got everything he deserved! Looks like, uh, suicide to me."
Cop 1: "Best thing for him. Sick ****er."

You been a prog head since 1980 make you an expert well quite clearly you are far from it

ABWH! Now you are having a laugh. Are you sure you wernt born in 1980 maybe a typo

:bonkhead:

Look, as a movement, yes, certainly, progressive rock could only be progressive while there was something to progress to, and like all movements, once this is achieved you can't realistically call what follows that progressive.

So any album after, I would say arbitrary date, 1976, maybe, could be said not to be progressive in that sense.

But as a descriptor for a genre, I go with the seven accepted criteria:
Long tracks, usually 6 - 10 minutes or longer
Esoteric lyrical matter (mythology, fantasy, literature, history etc)
Non-standard musical instruments (cello, harp, violin, flute, harmonica, harpsichord etc)
Song suites
Non-standard song structures (no verse/verse/chorus/verse, generally)
Long instrumental passages, often introduction and/or outro
Predominance of keyboard, maybe acoustic guitar

As long as an album or artist fulfills at least five of these criteria, I consider them prog. You're free not to, but don't be a prog snob about it and try to pigeonhole all prog rock as being before 1972. That's just stupid and very arrogant. What about

Spock's Beard
Rush
Marillion
Big Big Train
Fish on Friday
Gazpacho
Arena
Mostly Autumn
Genesis mid-seventies to early eighties
Touchstone
Red Sand
and a hundred others? You can't discount them and say they're not progressive rock.

They may not be YOUR idea of prog rock, but they still qualify.

And I was born in 1963 as it happens, so there's no need to be snippy. Genesis were my first prog band, then Marillion and Rush, Mostly Autumn, and so on. The world didn't stop in 1972 dude, take my word for it. Don't be caught dead with a prog album after that year if you want, but don't expect everyone else to agree with you. There's a whole lot of superb prog out there if you could take off your blinders and just look for it, but if you don't wish to do that, live in 1972. You're welcome to it. You're missing a whole lot of great music though.

Oh, FYI: I never put myself forward as an expert. I've learned, and continue to learn, a lot while writing my History of Prog journal, but I'm nowhere near an expert. I'm simply a prog head, someone who enjoys listening to prog. So please don't put words or claims into my mouth.

And You and I and Siberian Khatru are outstanding songs that need the title track as a bit of contrast, but I can understand not having the patience to get through it.

Try this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00xvW4ZSJ9M

The entire concert is great. A lotta good tunes spanning multiple albums:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTk7KmCNOJE

:laughing: Best post in this entire thread! Good one, Mindfulness.

As a keen Yes fan for the albums from Time And A Word through to Relayer, I'd say my fave was Fragile. Having bought Tales Of Topographic Oceans on the basis of brand loyalty, I was very disappointed with it. Still, to justify my outlay, I persevered and came to really love about 2 and a half of the four sides.

In terms of popularity, Time And a Word is always the unloved runt of the litter; perhaps that's why I have a special affection for it - or because of tracks like this, where Yes sound like the band they were to become, but embedded in a sound that is like a road untaken:-

My favourite is Magnification. I'm a sucker for rock/orchestra fusions, ELO being the textbook example. So in many ways that album felt tailor-made to my tastes. Personally I liked it a lot more than Time and a Word, simply because I liked the songs and general production more.

I picked Going For the One.

To me this is the one that hits the sweet spot between progressive and accessible.

I like Fragile,90125 and Big Generator the most out of all of them.......

I like all of those listed, plus a couple of others (esp. the debut, Talk and event Tormato...); I voted Relayer.

I voted Going For The One just because of memories associated with it.

Rick Wakeman on farewell tour!

3rd Oct Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, NY, USA
4th Oct SHU Community Theater, Fairfield, CT, USA
5th Oct UCPAC, Rahway, NJ, USA
6th Oct Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY, USA
8th Oct Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, MA, USA
10th Oct The Theater at Innovation Square, Rochester, NY, USA
11th Oct Electric City, Buffalo, NY, USA
13th Oct The Kent Stage, Kent, OH, USA
15th Oct Arcada Theatre, St. Charles, IL, USA
17th Oct Fitzgerald Theatre, Saint Paul, MN, USA
19th Oct Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI, USA
20th Oct The Sheldon Concert Hall, St Louis, MO, USA
22nd Oct Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, AZ, USA
24th Oct Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas, TX, USA
26th Oct The Heights Theater, Houston, TX, USA
28th Oct Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA, USA
31st Oct Carolina Theatre of Durham, Durham, NC, USA
2nd Nov Lansdowne Theater, Lansdowne, PA, USA

UK dates begin in November
https://www.rwcc.com/live.php

^ Thanks for the info. I've only seen RW live when with Yes, at the ABWH and Yes Union tours (so that's a while back...), never on a solo tour. Might be interesting. I hope he will have some dates on the continent.

My vote went to The Yes Album. It's really the only album from the band I really like. The interest I once had in progressive/prop/whatever didn't last very long.

The show nearest me has a pretty nice career bio included with ticket info.
https://kentstage.org/event/rick-wak...age/kent-ohio/

The one time I saw Yes was with an orchestra and Rick Wakeman was not on that tour. The show taught me that not every song sounds better with an orchestra!

I can still listen and enjoy some prog/alt/underground/avant-garde but it's mostly the stuff I listened to as a ute when I fancied myself an enlightened lad. I've since accepted that I'm a rust-belt rube and don't challenge my progressively shrinking attention span.

However, I am very grateful for those heady days of late night college radio. Bands like Yes, ELP, Genesis and King Crimson were the mainstream fare. I loved the nightly excursions listening to bands like Gong, Gentle Giant, Renaissance, Van Der Graaf Generator, Hoslips and countless others. The DJs would almost take on a top 40 persona when playing new artists like UK and Brand X. Oh, those were the days my friend.