"Classic Rock Presents Prog" readers' all time best prog albums

the week that was

Write-in vote for "Love Beach".

Voted Crimso's Red. Might have voted for Signals by Rush or Abacab by Genesis if those were on the list, but those obviously speak less to their being the best prog album ever, but more to being at the right place at the right time in my life (though c'mon, Abacab is awesome).

moving pictures is good but it's one of the least proggy rush records

It's more prog than every subsequent Rush album, surely?

I really love The Lamb but I don't think it's any proggier than Moving Pictures. It mostly feels like some epic keyboard-heavy pop record to me. I'll give Close to the Edge the, um, edge for that reason. I haven't listened to Pawn Hearts in a while though. I should put it on.

voted close to the edge. might've voted the lady in the lake by gnidrolog, einsjäger & siebenjäger by popol vuh, journey to the centre of the eye by nektar, or released by jade warrior, but that list sucks

I voted Close To The Edge though Going For The One was second choice. Am listening to Olias... now and, yeah, it should've been on this poll. Six Wives Of Henry VIII as well.

I really love The Lamb but I don't think it's any proggier than Moving Pictures.

Depends on how you define concept albums. Concept albums often have shorter tracks than other prog albums may, but then, the entire album is seen more or less as belonging together, which makes it very prog. Same about fact that there are lots of lengthy instrumental solos and various weird beats like 7/4, 11/4 etc.

The list doesn't contain one single krautrock album, just deal with it, and accept that typical prog fans don't like krautrock and don't consider improvised music true prog.

That's you all told, krautrock fans :(

Krautrock is probably loved by more Sex Pistols fans than Genesis fans, which says it all, really.

it suuuuuuuuuure does, my man.

o_O

"true prog"?

here's me thinking it was one of the more expansive and wide-ranging genres. thanks for narrowing the perspective and lowering expectations.

Geir stop talking shit. I love the hell out of Yes, King Crimson, Robert Wyatt and Magma and I also love Krautrock and I am far from alone in this!

voted Close to the Edge.

hang on i thought i was the anti-you

haha, just on most things, lj.

The list doesn't contain one single krautrock album, just deal with it, and accept that typical prog fans don't like krautrock and don't consider improvised music true prog.

You literally do not know what the fuck you're talking about.

Same about fact that there are lots of lengthy instrumental solos and various weird beats (meaning odd metres)

This is also true of Moving Pictures.

xpost Yeah, that "improvised music" thing is bullshit.

geir you are missing out on a lot if you think that amon duul and popol vuh have more in common with the sex pistols than genesis

Krautrock is probably loved by more Sex Pistols fans than Genesis fans, which says it all, really.

umm, what are you saying?

voting Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned.....in my mind

Moving Pictures is my all-around favorite on this list, but for Prog I'm choosing Close To The Edge.

I love how it is both epic and concise, they don't skimp on song length, but they don't drag out the record either. Probably the only Yes album that's really great from beginning to end with no dead weight.

This is also true of Moving Pictures.

I would agree, yes. "Moving Picture" is definitely prog. A bit more uncertain about those very recent Rush albums.

close to the edge still feels like the perfect prog record to me

― extremely demanding on the hardware (ciderpress), Thursday, July 16, 2009 11:42 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

Yes. It's the one for the time capsule.

Close To The Edge is going to win this, isn't it?

Not a bad thing, really, it was my first instinctive choice. I only hope that Going For The One represents beyond my solitary vote, as it really is a great album. Even if you don't care for "Wonderous Stories", it's relatively short, and every other song is solid-to-amazing.

who are IQ?

I can't help but vote for Rock Bottom, even though I don't think of it as prog. Sorry, prog.

Close To The Edge is going to win this, isn't it?

Unless the non-prog fans hijack the poll and make sure that some King Crimson album or Van Der Graaf Generator wins.

lol how are they non-prog?

i voted VDGG but in this poll I like Genesis,Camel, King Crimson,Caravan, Tool and Meddle is one of 2 non syd albums i like.

lol how are they non-prog?

I am not saying they are non-prog, but they are somewhat more "avant garde", and thus more likely to appeal to those who don't like the idea of melodic symphonic rock.

"In The Court Of The Crimson King" is - with the exception of part of "Epitath" - rather normal symphonic rock though. It was later that they really started experimenting maybe a bit too much for their own good. Usually the tracks with vocals were always great though, even if they were a bit too experimenting for their own good on the instrumentals.

Wow, Geir, your thought processes are strange. I'm not piling on, just sayin'. Obsessive weird mentalism is one of the things I love about ILM.

Amen to that!

I wish Soft Machine and (yeah, right) Hampton Grease Band were options, but I'll go with Fragile - "Roundabout" is the perfect prog tune that you can actually hum along to, for what that's worth.

Geir, this isn't a poll about Symphonic Rock, nor is prog rock only Symphonic Rock. Those bands are prog rock and liked by prog rock fans (enough to vote them into the magazine clearly).

Rush have many many heavy metal/heavy rock lovers as fans but it doesn't make them heavy metal. Pink Floyd , Yes and Genesis are certainly not exclusive to fans of prog rock either.
I'd wager that plenty of people who bought records by Rush,Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd don't own any other "prog" records. So dismissing VDGG and King Crimson because they're avant garde is silly.

Yes - The Yes Album

I think I should have voted "Close To The Edge;" It's close.

but the majority of the albums listed are prog of that very middle class, genteel, pompous and/or whimsical kind that bugs and/or bores the shit out of me. there's a distinct lack of edgier, noisier stuff

Pawn Hearts is the only VdGG I own. It's one of the more genuinely surprising and innovative rock albums I know, although I think side B is better than side A. I've noticed a few people have said it's not their best. What other albums should I get? I'm downloading Still Life now.

I also would have like to see the Plastic People on the list. Also, Thinking Plague, U Totem, Ruins, Imahoritsuneotatsuyayoshida.

Maybe Mew and Battles if they're including those other recent albums?

xp yep, Still Life is their best IMHO. It's the second one from their first reformation period, 1975-6. Godbluff runs it a close second.

The albums from the first period are more baroque and proggy, and Pawn Hearts is certainly the best of those. I could go on about VdGG all day but I'll stop there for now.

So dismissing VDGG and King Crimson because they're avant garde is silly.

No, no, but they are atypical of the rest of the stuff on this list. Or, "Red" is, not neccessarily "In The Court Of The Crimson King" (which is actually the forefather of them all).

Btw. if there is one band I miss on the list (besides Flowers Kings), then that would be Moody Blues.

Geir, how do you feel about the lack of Brutal Prog on the list?

I tried to listen to that last Porcupine Tree album, but jesus christ those lyrics about playstations and disaffected teenagers were worse than a fuxxxoring Korn song.

yeah those are dumb (although I like that record now), Steven Wilson's solo album is hundreds of times better, and maybe better than anything PT ever released. It's really, really good.

but i gave you life
WHAT ELSE COULD YOU DO
to do what was right
I'M PERFECT! ARE YOU?

aside from the krautrock question...

if stuff like queensryche and moving pictures and opeth counts as "prog".......should zappa have been on the list?

Yeah, at the very least One Size Fits All should have been on the list, for Inca Roads alone.

i mean he was doing really convoluted/conceptual/chopsy stuff in the mid-60s...but maybe he doesn't count cuz he's more earthy and sarcastic than fanciful

if stuff like queensryche and moving pictures and opeth counts as "prog".......should zappa have been on the list?

I guess he could have. But the prog fans didn't vote for him, however they did vote for Queensryche and Rush.

well yeah i know, i just think the interesting thing about this list is not like "oh yes is better than king crimson" or vice versa but rather i've never really thought about what makes something "prog" or not....

it's kinda tricky because there's a whole bunch of things i think about when i think about prog that are shared by things that i don't think are prog but maybe they are? or not....

so far in life i've been sort of on the prog=porn old school "i know it when i see it" definition

I have never really liked the term "Progressive rock" at all, because that means it's supposed to be "progressive" and it isn't. I mean, even from day one, most of the most famous prog was rather "regressive", in that it took a huge influence from 18th and 19th century classical music.

Thus, I like the term Symphonic Rock better. I realize the term doesn't fit with everything that falls under the prog umbrella, but I would say about 80-90 per cent of the albums in this list could be classified as symphonic rock. Which kind of implies which style typical prog fans tend to prefer anyway.