Prog Rock Fans: What are the ultimate 5 Prog Rock Albums

I'm still pondering this as I listen to my newly purched "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" CD (The only PF CD with Syd Barnett instead of Roger Waters).

So if you had to recommend to someone what the five ultimate prog rock CDs are - what would you pick

I could come up with five, but I know I'd leave some very important works out.

Right now I'm contemplating which Pink Floyd would be on the list. The obvious would be "Dark Side of the Moon" but there's something about Piper that reflects the origins of progressive rock and I'm leaning towards that one.

It was David Gilmour that was missing.

Of course, Roger was just the bass player in the Barrett-era Floyd.

Anyway

1 - The Wall (Pink Floyd)

2 - Fragile (Yes)

3 - Animals (Pink Floyd)

4 - Hemispheres (Rush)

5 - Close to the Edge (Yes)

On Edit: These are just some of my favorites, of course. And they a prone to changing from one day to the next.

Just testing to see if others did

:eyes:

change #4. But there are a lot of works that would fit the bill. I hesitate, because I am partial to progressive rock, and my preferences are extensive. For the record, I like Rush a lot, and if I were to include them, I would be more likely to nominate 2112.

A Trick of the Tail by Genesis, and the debut album from It's a Beautiful Day. Not sure if all of these qualify as prog. rock though.

It isn't easy to put a finger on it's classification, because it incorporates so many styles and flavors of music within itself.

Roxy Music: Roxy Music (1972)
King Crimson: In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969)
Yes: Close To The Edge (1972)
Jefferson Airplane: After Bathing At Baxter's (1967)
Frank Zappa: We're Only In It For The Money (1968)


Best I could think of on short notice.

1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon

2. Yes - Close To The Edge

3. Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream

4. King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

5. Zappa / Mothers - One Size Fits All

:)

The Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd
Brain Salad Surgery - Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Close To The Edge - Yes
Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull
Tool - Aenima

1. Selling England By the Pound -- Genesis

2. Fragile -- Yes

3. Dark Side of the Moon -- Pink Floyd

4. In the Court of the Crimson King -- King Crimson

5. OK Computer -- Radiohead

"Court of the Crimson King" - King Crimson
"Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible Pt. 1)" - GONG
"Tago Mago" - Can
"Fish Rising" - Steve Hillage

:hug:

:hug:

Genesis: Foxtrot (with the 22 minute long "Supper's Ready")

Yes: Close to the Edge (I'm big into the songs that took up entire album sides)

Pink Floyd: Meddle or Animals (um, did I mention...)

ELP: it's a tossup between Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery

Jethro Tull: Passion Play (actually beats out TAAB for prog brownie points, but I prefer Songs from the Wood to both)

Gentle Giant: In a Glass House (like a more concentrated Tull)

King Crimson: Larks' Tongues in Aspic

Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention: One Size Fits All (has a handful of songs that are textbook prog, with synthesizers and everything)

Caravan: In the Land of Gray and Pink (good entry point into the wonderful world of Canterbury)

Faust: The Faust Tapes (although if you're new to Krautrock, go for XNASA's Can suggestion)

Magma Live

Who's Next (if you'll allow that to be considered a prog album)

Do you know the website www.progarchives.com? They're ridiculously comprehensive, and many of the band pages have streaming audio of entire songs so you can check out what you think you might like. (The reviews should all be taken with a grain of salt: proggies can be real fanatics.)

Disclaimer: these opinions are subject to change without notice. Ask me about National Health!

But after listening to Piper in its entitity 3 times in a row I keep leaning towards that album because it really was one of the "Founding Fathers" of prog rock music.

I don't think it's very easy to compare "Piper" with the rest of Pink Floyd's work. It's like Barrett Floyd and Waters Floyd and Gilmour Floyd are each different bands, pioneering very different types of music.

....

King Crimson - Red
Jethro Tull - Passion Play
Yes - Relayer
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
Focus - Hamburger Concerto

pink floyd~ dark side of the moon
emerson lake and palmer~ brain salad surgery
the who~tommy
the moody blues~days of future passed
yes~fragile



:shrug:

The sign of a truly great prog rock album is when listening to the album as an entity is far suppier than just listening to one or 2 of the songs

:thumbsup::hi:

"Aqualung" by Jethro Tull (A double album about a pervy old bum with TB? BRING IT!)

"The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" by Genesis

"Udu Wudu" by Magma

"Phallus Dei" by Amon Duul II

:thumbsup:

Ege Bamyasi - CAN

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Genesis

In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson

Tales from Topographic Oceans - Yes

"Tago Mago" is king shit of fuck mountain.

Great piano, synthesizers and a great album cover art!

King Crimson - Red
Genesis - Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets

Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Rush - 2112
Kansas - Leftoverture
Jethro Tull - Too Old to Rock n Roll, Too young to Die

As for Prog Rock?

Who knows?











Who indeed has time to care ?:rofl: :spray: :rofl:

Meddle - Pink Floyd
Dark Side - Pink Floyd
Passion Play - Jethro Tull
The Yes Album - Yes
Ashes Are Burning - Renaissance

How about...

Rush: 2112
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
Dream Theater: Train of Thought
Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick
Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

I'm surprised no one else has a Dream Theater album. They've only been around 22 years.

Genesis - Selling England By the Pound
Emerson Lake and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
PFM - Per Un Amico
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Yes - Close to the Edge

Others-

Magma - Mekkanik Destrutiw Kommandoh
Le Orme - Felona y Sonora
YS - Il Balletto Di Bronzo
ELP - Trilogy
Genesis - Foxtrot
Genesis - Nursery Cryme
King Crimson - Red
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Voivod - Nothingface
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

Lamb has been mentioned a few times, but I think Elton John's music in the early 70's was classic progressive.

album.....

God, I'm getting old. :)

Not the 5 best, because those are adequately covered by everyone else here.

1. Frank Zappa - 'Waka/Jawaka'
2. Pink Floyd - 'Atom Heart Mother'
3. Rush - 'Permanent Waves' (it's very well known because of "The Spirit of Radio", but props are due for "Different Strings", "Jacob's Ladder", and "Natural Science".)
4. Jethro Tull - 'Minstrel In The Gallery'
5. Blodwyn Pig - 'Ahead Rings Out'

and I just could not get into that Album as much as I tried

I could have said "Ummagumma", but time is of the essence. :P

I don't consider the Syd Barret material like "Piper" to be 'prog'. It was psychedelia at its post-Sgt. Pepper's finest - masterful in its own right. It wasn't until Floyd started to experiment with long song forms and Richard Wright was allowed to explore space that they would fit the mold. "Atom" was the important first step that paved the way for "Dark Side of the Moon". Wright is the John Paul Jones of Floyd, a seriously underrated component of their greatness.

I rank "Meddle" as a much better album in the prog chain leading up to "Dark Side of the Moon", but it gets proper respect.

"Animals" is sometimes my favorite Floyd album, period. Depends on the month. :D

Dark Side is an amazing album but for any true fan of prog rock - it's too mainstream teetering on the edge of being just regular rock.

It's common for fans of just plain classic rock to have albums like Dark Side and/or The Wall in their collection but very little else of Pink Floyd. True Prog Rock fans make it a point to have all of the Pink Floyd works especially the earlier stuff since those other albums better define prog rock.

As for Piper, I consider it 'infancy' prog - meaning that it has many of the elements of prog rock but not quite grown up just yet and perhaps experimenting in other areas. Perhaps it would be better to define Piper more as Psychadelic Rock - the distance older cousin of prog rock

Broadsword.

:eyes:

yes INDEED

Haven't we always? :hi: :7