Prog Rock

[Pedrito]

"The Lamb" is my favourite Genesis. and one of my favourite albums ever.

More recently can I just urge everyone in this thread to check out Kairon;IRSE because they're incredible. The "Ruination" album on Svart from a couple years ago is pretty much a perfect record. Elements of old 70s prog but incorporates bits of shoegaze and drone in places. This song in particular is fantastic

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

Time of Orchids were great too - like Shudder to Think channeling King Crimson. This is one of the more straight forward songs and some of their earlier stuff veers close to Mr Bungle but the stuff on Tzadik is great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prD-pNVgME
Singer has a solo project called Stern now which has elements of this but is less prog and gloomier/weirder overall

Am I allowed talk about the Cardiacs now? or Art Zoyd and Univers Zero??

Oh, been digging into Van Der Graaf Generator recently based on this. Amazing song, and equally amazing piece of footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asPDvjUYFy4

That Time of Orchids tune is incredible, been on repeat all day. What album should I start with?

[Ducky]

Listened to a couple of Rush albums and I really enjoyed Hemispheres, but I don't really buzz off the vocals. Liked the 2 Yes albums I listened to and also liked the one King Crimson album. I also like Porcupine Tree and some Steve Wilson stuff, which is obviously very derivative of the 70's stuff that I am generally afraid of.

So which one album do ye reckon would draw me in, if you had to pick only one?

In fairness, Hemispheres is by some margin the most difficult album to get into - and his vocals are part of that. Pretty sure Geddy Lee regretted singing in that register for the album.

Give their two seminal 80s records a go - Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves. Permanent Waves was their first record where they moved away from full on prog and tried to streamline the sound (it was the direct follow up to Hemispheres). Most of the songs are fairly digestible but still have some crazy playing on them. The instrumental section of Freewill (my favourite Rush song) sounds like something Atheist could've recorded

[Pedrito]

Agreed. Exit Stage Left a good live best of too.

[101_North]

Bit like a German Emerson, Lake and Palmer but a great listen

Triumvirat - Illusions on a Double Dimple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCoIWItQ0Xs

And for something much more recent that channels the spirit of early prog bands - Genesis, Gentle Giant etc. I really like this one.

Wobbler - From Silence To Somewhere (2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2W_UAIqwbk

[Ducky]

I've got Triimvirat's first record (Mediterranean Tales) and have always meant to dig in more.

[Eoin McLove]

Oh, been digging into Van Der Graaf Generator recently based on this. Amazing song, and equally amazing piece of footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asPDvjUYFy4

Wow, what a find. That album is mental, Doom Prog or Dark/Black Prog in many ways. A great listen but I can only do it every now and again.

I've never listened to VdGG, but I can hear where Orne took their inspiration in that song.

[wiped]

Forgot to mention ASTRA ..... they have two albums, The Weirding from 2009 and The Black Chord from 2012 ... well worth having.

This is a great fan made video from clips taken from Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and Wizards movies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD0HWo0T_xQ

[Pedrito]

Sounds very cool, a big Hawkwind vibe off it.

[101_North]

Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - Galactic Zoo Dossier

More towards the psychedelic / space rock vein but still very much 'prog'. It's fantastic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXkHekx-J3k

[Cosmic_Equilibrium]

Favourite bands of the genre for me are Hawkwind (Space Ritual one of the best live albums ever recorded), King Crimson and Jethro Tull (especially the albums Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses).

Genesis I find quite 'dense' musically - not easy to get into, but lots going on - but the band should have changed their name after Hackett left as they moved in a much more mainstream direction and not in a good way.

Yes I just can't get into, with the possible exception of bits of Fragile and Relayer. Anderson's voice is just so fruity and flowery.

ELP are actually pretty good, despite the fact they usually get held up as an example of prog's ridiculousness. Yes they are pretty OTT but there's also a sense of fun about it all too, I find them more entertaining than a lot of the other bands.

Rush are fine up to the early 80s but their entire 82-90 output is garbage IMO, with the exception of a couple of songs. Albums like Power Windows sound like corporate ad jingles for Bank Of America, Geddy abandons his bass and mindlessly tinkers away at endless banks of keyboards, and there's a sense of a band trying to make 'deep' and 'mature' music which ironically sounds more superficial and obvious than their 70s work which is supposedly less 'adult'. Those albums have dated horribly, and in all the videos for them Geddy looks like he's lost his mind. Their 2000s output is much better though.

[Pedrito]

So if ever there was a time to explore Prog it is now. Time of Orchids and Astra from the recommendations I have listened to extensively so keep the recommendations coming.

At the moment I am completely obsessed with Genesis´   Nursery Crymes. An album I hadn't given huge attention to a bit like the Yes Album in the past, but which crept up on me and became an absolute favourite among favourites. The variety on the album, the weirdness, the beauty, the darkness, the oddity..I can't help but feel that modern metal bands and bands in general especially could really take note from some of the themes explored on this album and the shades and tones also. So inventive, so different, unique, odd..Musical Box shows what heaviness could be achieved without reliance on heavy amplifiers. Also the best way I could describe the music is it's the Dickens to Zepellin's Tolkien. It lacks that nostalgia and ethereal, mystical, Celtic feeling, it is about as British as anything can be..there's emotion in there, but it always comes with a caveat; controlled and distant. Class, class, class. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W35wtfcByIY

[blessed1]

Ayreon are an excellent prog band. Maybe more along the prog metal side of things.
Some excellent rock operas in their catalogue.

[OpenSores]

"The Lamb" is my favourite Genesis. and one of my favourite albums ever.

More recently can I just urge everyone in this thread to check out Kairon;IRSE because they're incredible. The "Ruination" album on Svart from a couple years ago is pretty much a perfect record. Elements of old 70s prog but incorporates bits of shoegaze and drone in places. This song in particular is fantastic

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

Time of Orchids were great too - like Shudder to Think channeling King Crimson. This is one of the more straight forward songs and some of their earlier stuff veers close to Mr Bungle but the stuff on Tzadik is great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prD-pNVgME
Singer has a solo project called Stern now which has elements of this but is less prog and gloomier/weirder overall

Am I allowed talk about the Cardiacs now? or Art Zoyd and Univers Zero??

Oh, been digging into Van Der Graaf Generator recently based on this. Amazing song, and equally amazing piece of footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asPDvjUYFy4

Time of Orchids wow, working my way through their back catalogue. Can't understand how I missed em'.

[if6was9]

Ayreon are an excellent prog band. Maybe more along the prog metal side of things.
Some excellent rock operas in their catalogue.

Love some of the Ayreon albums. I was obsessed with the 01011001 double album.

i understand they filmed a DVD of one of the rare live gigs they did. Haven't seen it yet but it's on my watch list.

Been listening to a lot of Alan Parsons Project myself the last few months

[blessed1]

Ayreon are an excellent prog band. Maybe more along the prog metal side of things.
Some excellent rock operas in their catalogue.

Love some of the Ayreon albums. I was obsessed with the 01011001 double album.

i understand they filmed a DVD of one of the rare live gigs they did. Haven't seen it yet but it's on my watch list.

Been listening to a lot of Alan Parsons Project myself the last few months

You should check out their most recent one called The Source. It's excellent