Hey! Here is my personal top ten Brazilian Progressive Rock Album! 10 - Tudo Foi Feito Pelo Sol (Os Mutantes) 09 - Milton (Milton Nascimento) 08 - Matança do Porco (Som Imaginário) 07 - Depois do Fim (Bacamarte) 06 - Lar de Maravilhas (Casa das Máquinas) 05 - Terreno Baldio (Terreno Baldio) 04 - Moto Perpétuo (Moto Perpétuo) 03 - Idade da Luz (14 Bis) 02 - Sagrado (Sagrado Coração da Terra) 01 - Criaturas da Noite (O Terço)
I'd say Hemispheres over Moving Pictures as the pinnacle of Rush's Prog era.. Camera Eye is however my favourite track from MP though.. Just a quick criticism Rush are not American they hail from Toronto in Canada hence YYZed... The Morse Code call sign or Pearson International Airport in Toronto 👍👍👍👍
Hey Mal, I was turned on to Rush in college back in 1983. My friend played me 2112 and I was blown away. Then I heard A Farewell to Kings and became a Rush fan for life! There were many great albums from the Terry Brown era but that is still my favorite.
Hemispheres for sure. Had it in red vinyl when it came out. Pretty sure it was red. For some unknown reason colours in general were variable at the time.
Well let's do the Classic Best !! All are so close together. 1, Genesis - Foxtrot 2, Yes - Close To The Edge 3, King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King 4, Jethro Tull - Aqualung 5, Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon 6, King Crimson - Starless And Bible Black 7, Genesis - Nursery Cryme 8, Gentle Giant - Playing the Fool (Yup it's Live so is most of KC Bible Black ! GG is just better Live !!) 9, Nektar - Remember The Future 10, Genesis - The Lamb 11, King Crimson - Red 12, Yes - Fragile 13, ELP - Tarkus 14, Genesis - Selling England By The Pound 15, Rush - 2112
Oh I really like your list. However, I'd have Rush's 'A Farewell To Kings' above '2112'. And I would defintely have to find a place for Camel ('Snowgoose' or 'Moonmadness') and maybe even the great Caravan album 'In The Land Of Grey And Pink'.
@@keithf_ Yes it's all good, like many of us I'm sure our favs are so close in a Top 10 or 20 by just 10ths !! And for me it always changes how I feel or memories of the bands I've seen etc I'm going on 66' now. Bottom line really is it was the Greatest time in Music the Classic Prog Era I believe, Great music and musicians and those Fantastic Gatefold covers to look at ! 👍🎶🎸🎹🎻🥁🎤🎼✌
Some of these bands were so good, you could easily have two of their albums on the list: Yes:Fragile,King Crimson: Larks Tongue, Genesis:Trick of the Tail,E.T.C.......great list!
I was so pleased to see the inclusion of "You" by Gong. It is a spectacular collision of inspired psychedelic lunacy and blazing musicianship unlike any other album. I think the climax of "A Sprinkling of Clouds" sounds like staring into the terrifying/beautiful face of God. It's my favorite instrumental piece ever.
I'll give it a go - before viewing your top 10. 10) Force Majeur - Tangerine Dream 09) In The Court Of The Crimson King _ King Crimson 08) Mirage _ Camel 07) Close To The Edge _ Yes 06) Io Sono Nato Libero _ Banco del Mutuo Soccorso 05) Foxtrot _ Genesis 04) Wish You Were Here _ Pink Floyd 03) Thick As A Brick _ Jethro Tull 02) The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage _ Peter Hammill 01) Pawn Hearts _ Van der Graaf Generator Notes - I had to make it one album per artist, otherwise my top 10 would be all Van der Graaf. Most prog fans rate Selling England By The Pound higher than Foxtrot. I can't because an album with 2 lower level songs (More Fool Me and I Know What I Like) knock SEBTP out of contention. ELP just doesn't have quite enough to make my top 10 though they are in my top 20 as are Gentle Giant, Le Orme, PFM, Klaus Schulze and Soft Machine. Finally - I just think Wish You Were Here is superior to Dark Side Of The Moon - both great but one has to be better and to me it is WYWH.
Great list! As always, wherever I venture and in a number of Prog books and Mags that I've read, the big 6 are always represented. Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, ELP, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull. Then Rush, Gentle Giant, Camel, VanDerGraaf Generator, Gong, Caravan, are added along the way. Marillion, Dream Theater, and Porcupine Tree, brought on a revival in the 90s and now there are so many diverse styles and bands contributing to the genre... Opeth, Pineapple Thief, Riverside, Katatonia, Anathema, and on and on. So much great stuff in the Prog Universe
I like your list Andy. So glad that Gong made it. Caravan’s “Girls That Grow Plump in the Night” album is fabulous with what I consider the best of orchestra and prog band playing together.
I'm a recent convert to prog and I've been consuming the genre with an unbridled passion for the last year or so. Yep, Foxtrot and Close To The Edge are just fantastic. I can't believe I didn't get into this music earlier. Making up for lost time now. Thanks for the vid, you've given me some great suggestions to listen to next. Subscribed.
Genesis and Yes had some of the greatest runs in brilliance: Nursery Crime, Foxtrot, Selling England...,The Lamb..., WnW, ATOTT; The Yes Album, Fragile, CTTE, TFTO, Relayer, GFTO. The Beatles were phenoms, but boy these two bands + King Crimson at their peak were so brilliant!
You are spot on with your assessment of Octopus. My only critique is I would have put it higher on your list but they are now more appreciated than ever before. My friends and I were Gentle Giant fanatics when these albums were released and would get in fights with those pop rock knuckleheads who believed that bands like Kiss, Sweet or Bay City Rollers blew them away. I felt better when I gave them a good whipping, but harsh as that might sound, you didn’t have to like them but you better respect them.
I'm not English, but I adore Benny the Bouncer. Lake's gravely accent, the clever lyrics. ("They tried to put together all the bits that would fit.") The detuned piano, Emerson's little tag on the end, Palmer's saucy drum solo right before the tag, and the perfect end to the story.
Many music critics dislike ELP'S "fun" tracks, from which I conclude that music critics are a rather humorless lot. "Are You Ready Eddy" is another example; this is not a letdown, it's comic relief!
Benny was the bouncer at the Palais de Dance He'd slash your granny's face up given half a chance. He'd sell you back the pieces, all for less than half a quid He thought he was the meanest- Until he met with Savage Sid. Now Sidney was a greaser with some nasty roots He poured a pint of Guinness over Benny's boots Benny looked at Sidney: Sidney stared right back in his eye. Sidney chose a switchblade And Benny got a cold meat pie. Oh! what a terrible sight, Much to the people's delight. One hell of a fight. Sidney grabbed a hatchet, buried it, in Benny's head. The people gasped as he bled: The end of a Ted? Well, they dragged him from the wreckage of the Palais in bits. They tried to stick together all the bits that would fit. But some of him was missing And "part of him" arrived too late, So now he works for Jesus As the bouncer at St. Peter's Gate.
Having immediately fallen in love with Genesis the moment I heard "the Musical box" in 1972: a year later YES playing "Close to the Edge" in concert blew my 17 year old mind. Now a 68 year old, I recently played "Suppers Ready" and "Close to the Edge" back to back. Let's face it they both appear on most of these prog masterpiece lists. The climax to "Suppers Ready is perfect: it emits a feeling of finally reaching a higher plane of existence wile "Close to the Edge", after Wakeman's organ solo, just doesn't give my heart the same air for my wings to soar as Genesis. On "Court of the Crimson King" of course "Moonchild" meanders yet, on the first listening, when the mellotron of the title track abruptly blasts out of nowhere it is unforgettable! Sadly on the second listening you are prepared. Still what a moment! "Pawn Hearts" side one IMHO is the masterpiece yet, as you intimated VDGG are a band to be reckoned with. "YOU" - I once asked Daevid Allen why I could never finish playing "YOU" all the way through. He replied , I had these hot young musicians and do you think I could control them." Still It is s great to see Gong on your list. ..thank you
I agree Supper's Ready has a longer crescendo, but musically for me nothing compares to the end of CTTE. Of course art is subjective, but both are amazing masterpieces nonetheless. Great bands, incredible runs putting out masterpiece after masterpiece.
@@rodrigoodonsalcedocisneros9266 Close to the edge, down by the river Down at the end, round by the corner Seasons will pass you by, Now that it's all over and done, Called to the seed, right to the sun Now that you find, now that you're whole Seasons will pass you by, I get up, I get down I get up, I get down I get up, I get down I get up OR Can't you feel our souls ignite? Shedding ever-changing colours In the darkness of the fading night Like the river joins the ocean As the germ in a seed grows We have finally been freed to get back home There's an angel standing in the sun And he's crying with a loud voice "This is the supper of the mighty one" Lord of Lords, King of Kings Has returned to lead his children home To take them to the new Jerusalem
Red is a fantastic album for sure but I’d like to point how I like Lizard, an album that even Robert Fripp didn’t like at all. A summit of bizarre but one of the most beautiful acoustic guitar tone ever recorded.
A few years ago, hard to believe I only owned Moving Pictures, but I came from the classic rock genre. Now I own 6 of your top 10 so I'm slowly climbing the Prog ladder and now it is my most listened to genre by far. You're on a terrific roll of really exciting, insightful video topics and now are one of my favorite channels along with Pete. You're made to do this, Andy, so I for one am rooting you on.
Typing as I listen to you, not a fan of ELP but a big fan of The Nice! much more raw and authentic and not contrived! I hope you have got the best album of all time on your list or have you missed a 'Trick' here by not including this Genesis Album I also love Tull what a talent!
I'm no expert on VdGG so I had to do some research so I'm glad those who are proper fans of them seem to be in agreement. I love Peter Hammill on Exposure by Fripp which is where I first came across him. Astonishing vocals on there
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Hammill is one of the most underrated prog artists. Massive and diverse output over the years, early solo albums like Chameleon in the Shadow of Night and The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage are awesome too, and his early 80s K Group records as well.
Good to see you on camera again, Andy! I find it great you can take an objective step back on the top 10 prog albums. This is not something I could do. Though, I agree on your #5 choice, as subjectively speaking I believe my favourite Rush track is "Red Barchetta". However, you did not even mention 'Permanent Waves'? # 3 choice is one I believe the entire world population would agree to. #2 choice, I agree with what you had to say about it. #1 choice, I can't argue.
Be lucky Rush is even on the list because technically they're not a true progressive rock band. They put out a couple progressive rock albums in the mid-to-late 70s however 95% of their music is Hard Rock fused with other types of music period talented yes extremely progressive rock n o t😮
Great list, arguably the ten greatest groups among a genre that has produced much great music. Here's a suggestion for you. Try 10 greatest European (non-UK) prog or greatest N. American prog albums / groups. What I particularly like about your list is that it is going to get me to dig deeper into the groups that I have largely ignored over the years. Gong, Gentle Giant, VdGG are all groups of which I have heard & yet know almost nothing of their music. Even the inclusion of Rush, which I have largely ignored because of their huge popularity, is nudging me to dig deeper.
Good choices overall and being a lifelong YES fan I am happy to see you put it on top. You might want to add an early or prime time Kansas or Todd Rundgren album to that list. I need to listen to some of these albums which I have not listen to whole albums.You really should add Renaissance like The Ashes are Burning album orTurn if The Cars, or even A Man For All Seasons as they were unique and brilliant back in those early to mid 1970’s era!
I agree with you in adding Renaissance to this album list. Your album titles are a little off though, it should be "Turn of the Cards" and "A Song For All Seasons". Truly outstanding albums. Looking forward to seeing Annie Haslam and Renaissance in concert in a month or so.
Thank you Andy for your definitive prog rock albums. Very happy that you included Van der Graaf Generator’s Pawn Hearts! Waiting to hear your top 10 European or Italian Prog greatest albums. Cheers! Sal Randazzo.
The Wetton era improvs were true monstrosities in the best possible way! I've always loved Providence and Asbury Park among many others. Fantastic stuff! I like Belew era improvs too, but the Wetton era stuff is pure genius!
Can't really fault your choices but you have omitted bands from the Canterbury scene (apart from Genesis). Caravan, Hatfield and the North, Soft Machine, and Egg. Also an honourable mention for Camel, Marillion, Focus, Amon Duul II and, dare I say, Henry Cow. So difficult to decide when the Rock/Prog boundary is so ill defined. All in good humour.
I really did consider this and it would have been Caravan...Land of Grey and Pink...but I don't consider that greater than any of the albums of this list. My favourite is Hatfield and also that album by Khan is great if a little obscure.
Hi Andy. Just to clarify, Rush isn't an American band, they are Canadian. That may not seem like a big deal to someone in the UK but as a proud Canadian, I needed to clarify. Good list, by the way.
@@davestr7031 Technically, you are correct. But from a practical standpoint no one in North America thinks that way or speaks that way. You’re either proudly American or you are proudly Canadian. When I was younger he wise person told me “Never call a New Zealander an Australian, never call a Scotsman an Englishman, and never called a Canadian an American“.
If they were from Brazil he just as easily could and have said the South American band.In his way he's calling them THE BAND of North America!!!! Which they clearly are!!💜🧡💛💚💙❤👍👍👍👍👍
My 10: 1) Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull 2) Close to the Edge - Yes 3) In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson 4) Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd 5) Selling England by the Pound - Genesis 6) In A Glass House - Gentle Giant 7) Brain Salad Surgery - ELP 8) A Question of Balance - Moody Blues 9) Foxtrot - Genesis 10) Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
Loved this! Loads of my faves on here! Octopus! The live version of Panurge GG did on that German TV show (see RUclips!) is brilliant and even more inventive. Blows my tiny mind! Floyd: I sometimes think that if Shine On pts 6-9 we’re a little more avant-garde and cut a bit harder (to offset the more conventional previous tracks) that it would elevate WYWH to a different level. Still a fave of mine though! 🤓 Cheers!🍺
When I got into Genesis I got the Genesis Live album and completely obsessed over it. I probably played the album over 300 times during the next few months. The problem was the production quality was 10X better on the Live album than the Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, or Trespass albums such that that all the songs on the live album were un-listenable to me on the original albums. The funny thing is all the other songs on those albums sound fine to me because I never heard any other versions. Go figure.
I remember buying a new stereo turntable and speakers about 1975 and thinking my old Genesis albums would finally sound better. Nope. They sounded the same.
Hi Andy, good list but would have suggested the debut album UK by UK should have been included together wth the likes of PFM (Photos of Ghosts) Focus (Moving Waves) Steve Wilson (To the Bone), Frank Zappa (One Size Fits All), Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells)
Great list!! So glad to see Gong and Gentle Giant getting some love. I love TAAB by Tull, but personally I like A Passion Play as much or better. Same album-long concept but better done, IMO. Also, no discussion of North American prog is complete without including Ambrosia. Although mostly known for their Yacht-rock classics (How Much I Feel, You're the Only Woman, and Biggest Part of Me), everything else from their early catalog is hardcore prog and is amazing. Love it!
Hey Andy - My Top 10 Prog Songs 1. Awaken - Yes 2. Supper`s Ready - Genesis 3. Further Away - IQ 4. Forgotten Sons - Marillion 5. YYZ - Rush 6. Leviathan - Pendragon 7. Cut and Run - Pallas 8. Starship Trooper - Yes 9. The Seventh House - IQ 10. The Crucifixion - Aragon Keep up the wonderful work you are doing and crash those drums of yours for another 100 years!
A great list Meinhart, but here's mine. Let me know what you think. I'm going first to tenth. 1. Supper's Ready-Genesis 2. Trilogy-ELP 3. And You and I- Yes 4.Firth of Fifth-Genesis 5. Echoes-Camel 6. Hero and Heroine- Strawbs 7. I Think of You-Renaissance 8. Yours Is No Disgrace-Yes 9. Cinema Show-Genesis 10. Celebration-Premiata Forneria Marconi
My ten greatest prog albums: 1.- Close to the Edge - Yes 2.- Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd 3.- The Snow Goose - Camel 4.- Red - King Crimson 5.- Moving Pictures - Rush 6.- Deadwing - Porcupine Tree 7.- A Tab in the Ocean - Nektar 8.- Bridge Across Forever - Transatlantic 9.- Los Jaivas - Alturas de Machu Pichu 10.- Originallis - Cast
I know this list is consisting of studio albums but King Crimson’s live compilation “The Great Deceiver” is my favorite work from them. Highly recommend listening to anyone who hasn’t heard yet.
Your choices wouldn't be mine but I really do appreciate how you have approached this and it's certainly a good list. For me personally it would have to be Tull at the number one position. Just love their stuff.
My first Genesis album was Trespass. Although it was recorded prior to Steve Hackett and Phil Collins joining the band, Trespass still has some excellent songs on it beyond the Knife.
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer One album cover I love even more is Acid Motherhood by Gong!!! It's the best fucking album cover I've ever seen!!! It's absolutely hilarious!!!😂🤣🤣
Very very interesting list, Andy, and I now have a few albums to listen to. To me, Thick As A Brick is a wonderful example of a work of art that is unintentionally great. I k know it was intended to be a parody, but it works so well, and I find it, at times, profoundly moving, possibly due to the fact that I first heard it as an adolescent.
In the Cv scam I did a desert island discs with friends on best 12 . The Bible works of Shakespeare and Dark side were on the island. 1. The lamb 2. BSS 3. Topographic 4. Brick 5. Spartacus 6 The Captain and me 7. Banco 8.Argus 9.Fox trot 10. Caravanserai 11. The court 12. I ( Moraz) And for my sis , Garry bloody Nueman
I really like your list Andy....very good choices...not all, but most. I'm sorry, but I can't believe, looking at all the comments, that nobody chose Hero and Heroine by Strawbs, except me. It's a brilliant album and considering Strawbs use to be more of a folk rock group, for them to jump into the prog rock scene was truly remarkable.
What i mostly see are 70s bands and i sure agree with the list at a point. But i wonder if bands like Ayreon (Into the Electric Castle) should be a newcomers. We all love Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson, Rush, Genesis etc. But Also take a look at Ayreon, Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater.
Overall I'm happy with your list. BSS is indeed the correct ELP album. Im a Tales guy for Yes, Selling England for Genesis, Wish You Were Here for Floyd, and I'd maybe replace VDGG with an 80's era Crimson. But your list is honorable indeed!
I’m very new to prog. I’m more of a hard rock & metal guy. I’ve listened to a few of these recently and was genuinely excited when you mentioned “Red” by King Crimson. That album is fantastic. “Red”, “Starless” & “Fallen Angel” are beyond awesome! I finally got to listen to ”Closer to the Edge” by Yes and I clearly understand why it’s number 1. Those songs were great and the perfect length. “Thick as a Brick” by Jethro Tull is also great. I think side one is the best, most consistent side for its length, but side two loses me in the beginning, but then brings on the greatness. I would’ve preferred that song to be broken into smaller songs if possible so I can hear the sections I like. I’ve known Pink Floyd since I was a teen in the ‘90s. I think I was the only teenager at my school with a Pink Floyd T-Shirt. My personal favorite song of theirs is “Pigs (The Three Different Ones)”. My thoughts on Gentle Giant is they are like the Geeky LARPers of prog rock. That’s what I imagine when I listen to their music. They are great musicians for sure, though. That’s not in question, but they sound really geeky. I think I’ll stop there. I don’t want to ramble any further. I have listen to the other groups except the one you placed at 10.
Loved listening to 'Trilogy' and saw ELP in concert, but I put them down because I so often heard the over the top flamboyance which came off as pompous. So I too will go back and give 'Brain Salad' a serious listen. 'Octopus' is a must. Not a Rush fan, but totally agree with your choice of 'Moving Pictures'. No argument with 'Red'. 'Starless' is so completely BLACK. Glad to have heard them live in 2021. 'Dark Side' is impossibly good and a must choice, but 'Animals' (saw that tour) and 'Wish You Were Here' are spectacular. 'Supper's Ready' is perhaps my favorite Genesis song, but 'The Lamb' is rock's best album.....flawed, slightly; but the concept, lyrics and scope are mind blowing. One of the 20th century's epic works of art. I have even grown to like 'Silent Sorrow'. AND I would put it at #1 with 'Close' a close #2. (sorry, a bad pun just seemed appropriate) Seeing Genesis in 1978 was the best concert of my life. Although Weather Report was very nearly the best! GREAT list. Now I must look up Gong and listen to 'You', thank you very much.
Just discovered your channel, and enjoying your list of overlooked prog albums. While I'm by no means a Prog aficionado, I've recently been discovering the catalogue of Renaissance, a band I hitherto only knew from their pop hit Northern Lights. Anyway, they stand out for me for a number of reasons: firstly, they're a rare Prog band of the 70s which had a female singer (or any female member come to that), the magnificent Annie Haslam; they were *superb* musicians and composers; and the subject matter of their songs was very unusual, probably because their lyrics were mostly written by poet Betty Thatcher, not a member of the band. Their run of albums from Ashes Are Burning through to A Song For All Seasons are absolutely outstanding. Are you a fan?
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer I would say a good place to dip a toe in the water would be one of these: Ashes Are Burning; Mother Russia; Running Hard; Ocean Gypsy; A Song For All Seasons. I hope you enjoy them, they're undeservedly forgotten I feel.
@@TheoZoffrok Renaissance seemed to be more popular here in the US, especially the eastern US. I remember a Melody Maker critic saying he didn't much like the band, but loved the track "Mother Russia!" (I like the Prologue album best myself.)
I was afraid that this was going to be yet another cliché 'best of' list, but the moment you included Van der Graaf Generator’s Pawn Hearts I realized this is a list compiled by someone with the know how.
Thick As A Brick is probably one of the most self aware prog albums and more importantly, done with a sense of humour. We expect it now but Progressive (big and small p) rock was quite po-faced. Gentle Giant were one of the few bands who got this, especially later.
I love most of those albums! But my favorite 25 prog albums would be: 1. Shintokumaru by J. A. Seazer 2. Mekanik Destruktiv Kommandöh by Magma 3. Gusliar by Pesniary 4. Ecophony Gaia by Geinoh Yamashirogumi 5. Music inspired by lord of the rings by Bo Hansson 6. Hybris by Änglagård 7. 4visions by Eskaton 8. Ocean by Eloy 9. First Utterance by Comus 10. Haikara by Haikara 11. Flying Teapot by Gong 12. Måltid by Samla Mammas Manna 13. God says I can't dance by Tipographica 14. Univers Zero by Univers Zero 15. Thick as a brick 16. Being by Wigwam 17. Pawn Hearts 18. Satori by Flower Travellin Band 19. Anabelas by Bubu 20. Gunesh by Gunesh Ensemble 21. Angherr Shispa by Koenji Hyakkei 22. Kokkyou Junreika by J. A. Seazer 23. Rituale Alieno by Universal Totem Orchestra 24. Bondage Fruit by Bondage Fruit 25. Sky by Sky
@@DavidLazarus Thanks! Eloy has a lot of great albums! If you like some of the weirder bands like Magma and Gong I would highly recomend J.A.Seazer and Geinoh Yamashirogumi. If you like symphonic prog I would highly recomend Gusliar by Pesniary!!!
I have many of these, no argument re 'Close to the Edge' and 'Foxtrot', that's for sure! I strongly recommend 'Garden Shed' by England, and 'Jumbo', 'Rockpommel's Land' and 'Merry-go-Round' by Grobschnitt
Really any of Peter Hammill’s solo albums from 73-75 could’ve been on this list for me. Especially “The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage” or “In Camera” both are really great, with several of the songs on both having most of all of the members of VDGG playing on them. You also get some more personal acoustic stuff from Hammill as well as reworked version of songs that were going to be on VDGG’s follow up to “Pawn Hearts” if they’d stayed together in 73. Highlights from “Silent Corner” definitely being Forsaken Gardens, The Lie, and A Louse Is Not A Home. For “In Camera” I’d say Sub Mariner and Gog are my favorites. Both of those albums in full are experiences in themselves.
Saw VDGG live in the 70s at a very small venue with great sound, was very impressed with the bass player.. Hamills voice is impressive as well, but not always spot on, I find their work a bit depressing, though it was a great set list.
... this is exactly the problem with trying to come up with lists like this. I could come up with a new list every week. There are at least 200 albums which in some way "deserve" to be in a list of the top 10! 🙂
Love your jazz/jazz fusion contributions to Sea of Tranquility so this ought to be a real treat. Thanks for sharing! Curious if you are a big Rahssan Roland Kirk fan, hey?
Great choices Andy!!! It's almost a flawless selection!!!! "Aqualung", "In the Court Of The Crimson King", "Larks' Tongues' in Aspic, "Fragile", "Selling England By The Pound", "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", "Trilogy", "Animals" could be there too but then it wouldn't be the 10 greatest but the 20 greatest! I never understood why all channels and Prog lovers always include only one album per band. Why not 2 or 3??!! IN rock and roll history surely The Beatles and The Rolling Stones must have 2 or 3 albums each on the list (top 15, top 20, perhaps even in top 10) !! See you !!!
Mi TOP 10 del rock progresivo: 1. Pink Floyd - Meddle 2. King Crimson - Islands 3. Yes - Fragile 4. Genesis - Nursery Cryme 5. Nektar - A Tab In The Ocean 6. Rush - 2112 7. Camel - Mirage 8. Gentle Giant - Octopus 9. Pulsar - The Strands Of The Future 10. Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
I had a feeling you would get much correct, but I have been, myself, considering this, waiting for this a very long time...We all know your two immediate errors, which easily could have been resolved with one more consideration I'd beg of you, retaining the central point, in this case time. An album from 1974 does not belong, unless you widen your scope. By 1974, the American album, not Canadian (Moving Pictures is prog metal not progrock) album that should have been included was Killer by Alice Cooper. Perhaps it was equally as difficult for you to hear AC as it was for me to hear Genesis. I was dreadfully unacculturated growing up in the southern u.s.. But most of these bands, particularly Yes, which you nailed, Gentle Giant, I am so fortunate to have found at some point and heard. Thank you, and for all the music from over there...p.s., if you must put a Canadian band, include Fly BY Night, THAT is progressive rock
Absolutely agree Andy. However I think kraut rock should be represented as being an important creative arm of prog! In the case I would choose either Phaedra from Tangerine Dream or Ege Bamyasi from Can, absolute gems in my view.
@@Katehowe3010 Many bands rejected that label. It was applied by critics first, then fans came on board. I recall GGiant (probably Derek) declaring that "we're a rock band!"
I agree fully about 4 of the albums: Pawn Hearts, Foxtrot, Close to the Edge and Red. Then there are 6 albums left. I am sorry, but I am not a fan of Rush or ELP. Dark Side of the Moon is acceptable, but not my Pink Floyd favourite. Thick as a Brick is a fine album, but is it really prog rock?? I have never heard the Gentle Giant or the Gong album, but I will surely look for them in the Danish library catalogue - thanks for telling me about them! Are something missing on the list? It could be an album by Camel or Caravan, but I think it would be more fair to pick an album no 2 from Yes or VDGG.
It is certainly a very balanced and very representative ranking. But instead of moving pictures by rush I would certainly insert Valentyne suite by C olosseum. There are at least 100 contenders for 10 places, such as BMS, Grobshnitt, Amon duul, Hatfield and the north, camel, caravan, Ange, Renaissance, the first marillion with fish, and so on. but I agree on the bands that have represented the most progressive
Mansuns "Six" is the best prog album every and nothing can come close to it. The best album I've ever heard and will ever hear. It will never be bettered.
I can't really argue with your list .I'm glad to see Pawn Hearts make it -such an underrated album.I love Foxtrot too but I actually found the production a bit dry and brittle-unlike Selling England By The Pound which has a rich warm sound -so easy on the ear. Oh well. I can see why you would include You out of all the Gong albums. Personally I prefer Angel's Egg which is more fun and quirky but I agree that You is highly influential.
I love Angels Egg and it has more songs on it which represent Gong better but You is just so awe inspiring and perfectly conceived. And Perfect Mystery is the perfect Goong song. I also include Fish Rising as well and is equal to anything in the Teapot Trilogy
I concur about Pawn Hearts. Indeed there are a number of VDGG albums that transcend all else (including Time Vaults). Criminally neglected on home shores, Gods in Italy. The Italians had it right.
@@BiSIDOLISDEAD They ( Italians/Latins) understand heart and passion better than most other nationalities. VDGG is my favorite prog group...Hammill's lyrics and their musicianship is "transcendent" indeed... Personally, I think Still Life is their magnum opus.
@@godbluffvdggVDGG's sound is unlike any other band that I've come across and Peter Hammill's lyrics and voice exude raw gut wrenching emotion. I was obsessed with VDGG in my teens and '20's. They will always be essential listening; in other words, I'm no different to any other VDGG fan 😁
Amusingly, one drummer appears twice on your list, and has played with two other bands in the list. I think it's fair to say that Bill Bruford is the quintessential pror rock drummer.
Three observations Andy 1 love what you are doing 2 side 2 of hounds of love -one of the greatest programme masterpieces 3 fusion masterpieces anything of we like it here or culcha Vulcan Another Andy
Of course it's all subjective and a matter of personal taste, so here are my 10 personal favorite prog rock albums....only one album from any band, and in no particular order, apart from The Dark Side of the Moon at a definite number 1 (the greatest album ever recorded in any genre in my humble opinion!): 1. Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon 2. Yes: Relayer 3. King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King 4. Genesis: Selling England by the Pound 5. ELP: Trilogy 6. Gentle Giant: Octopus 7. Todd Rundgren's Utopia 8. Soft Machine: Softs 9. Camel: The Snow Goose 10. Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells
Great choices and very important albums! Any prog head worth their salt, knows every nuance of them...:)...Making a list of the top ten prog albums is no easy task...Most of the well known group's have many albums that eclipse most other prog groups...I love Gong, Camel, Triumvirate et al. but; VDGG with H to He, or Still Life, Pawn Hearts etc. or Giant with In a Glass House or Power and the Glory, Three Friends, Octopus etc...ELP, Genesis, Crimso, U.K, Floyd...I can pick the top ten GROUPS...But; as I'm sure you're well aware...We play our prog for how we're feeling at that moment... Subbed.
Off the back of this I went back to listen to 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' again. One of the things that struck me was how good Michael Giles' drumming is on it. I know you highlighted Bruford in King Crimson and of course his contributions to prog drumming are legendary with Rush being fans but Michael's playing on the first album really augments the tracks in my opinion. And I know that's me as an amateur bedroom guitarist and music fan saying that to a pro drummer but I love listening to great drumming on albums.
So very happy to see Gong and Gentle Giant here. My circle of friends and I have always loved both, but we've always been outliers, even back in the magical 70s. The only band that would have been even more surprising and satisfying to see here would be Greenslade, but that would really be asking a lot...
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer There's a real Greenslade gem I recently discovered from the Old Grey Whistle Stop, stitched together from two separate live in the studio performances in 1973. It is truly breathtaking. No guitars, just Dave Greenslade and Dave Lawson on keyboards, Andy McCullough fresh from King Crimson on drums, and the amazing Tony Reeves from Colosseum (like Greenslade) playing the most melodic lead bass you ever heard, especially on Melange, somewhere around 9 minutes in this stunning clip, which I will try to locate for you. I mean, it's prog, it's jazz, it's rock and even classical. The only other bands that even attempted such an expansive, subversively counter-trendy bending of genres (no guitars!) were Gryphon, which I loved but who sort of got lost in their krumhorns and electric bassoons, and then later the Dixie Dregs (but those guys did it with a red-hot young guitar god) and Rick Wakeman on his Journey to the Center of the Earth and Six Wives of Henry VIII records. Found it: ruclips.net/video/U8NBCFO3GtI/видео.html
In this case, the old saying if a little is good than more must be better applies. The albums of Yes and King Crimson would just about cover my top 10. Would probably throw in some Jethro Tull and Genesis and call it a day. Pink Floyd would have to be in a separate category called Slow-gressive.
Job well done - anyone who isnt into prog or who wants to find out more about prog would be well served in checking out your top ten. I might disagree with the positions of some of your choices, but thats just my personal taste, and you could have gone rogue and done a top 11 just to get Tubular Bells in. Lengthening out to twelve could also have added in Caravan's In the land of grey or pink, maybe, and that would have covered just about all bases - though it could be argued that You represents Canterbury.
Great list Andy. I feel like throwing out a personal list, all of a sudden. 10. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here 9. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound 8. ELP - Tarkus 7. Yes - Close to the Edge 6. Genesis - Foxtrot 5. Jethro Tull - Aqualung 4. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King 3. Yes - Fragile 2. King Crimson - Larks Tongues in Aspic 1. King Crimson - Discipline It just had to be like that.
Yup. Great list. I agree with many many of your calls. My list would be different a bit, of course, but I keep doing the same thing. There are albums which are very subjective and they made me who I am. Then, there are the monumental albums which you just acknowledge. And there are those who are both. Like Red (and LTIA of course), Dark Side (My personal favorite will always be piper, Saucerful and Atom Heart), Foxtrot (Nursery too), Close to the Edge (Funny, but it's a tie for me with Fragile and Going for the one), Octopus, Brain Salad Surgery (I personally prefer Trilogy), Pawn Hearts (I'm really into World Record and Still Life. They are for me the absolute masterpieces from VDGG). Thick as a brick is a great choice for this list (but Stand-up and Benefit are really where JT hit me to the point of crying). and Gong.....Oh dear, so many albums to choose from. You is definitely right up there with Angel's Eggs. Just unexplainable bliss. Anyway, really love your channel. Watching it for the last few weeks and slowly picking up. I have so much to agree and challenge you at the same time, it's really fantastic. Thank you for doing this!!
I've generally considered Brain Salad Surgery a weak album, ergo I made my own more 'popular' version cutting Karn Evil 9 way back, and adding the 'outtakes' from Works Vol. II: Side One 1. Tiger In a Spotlight 2. Toccata 3. Still... You Turn Me On 4. Benny the Bouncer 5. Brain Salad Surgery Side Two 1. Jerusalem 2. Karn Evil 9: First Impression (only) 3. When the Apple Blossoms Bloom In the Windmills of Your Mind I'll Be Your Valentine I made the various tracks (from each side) segue into each other, and curiously enough (by iTunes timing anyway) both sides turned out to be exactly the same in length.
Nice list but I miss one of the best prog combo ever, if not the best since the early 80's. I named IQ. An obscure and morose prog group you surely don't know at all (wink). Yes they are not as old as the ones on this list but in my opinion they strongly preserved and improved prog rock for the past 40 years. You appear on one of their best efforts but my choice is "The Wake". For me this album is now a classic.
I would be hard pressed to come up with a definitive top 10 list for progressive or any other genre of music, that said Genesis "Foxtrot" is my favorite album of all-time. One thing I noticed about it (and the earlier albums W/PG and Hackett) but mainly Foxtrot...I have never gotten tired of listening to it, turned it off part way through to listen too something different. it still is fresh and exciting as it was 50 years ago and I think that says volumes about MY #1 album for all time and I will add "Suppers Ready" my favorite #1song of all-time.
Great job! I've always heard that the 10 classic prog bands include Camel and the Moody Blues (instead of Gong and Rush). Sometimes Zappa is also included. However, I much prefer Gong, as Gong's You is in my personal top 10 favorite albums. Rush is also great, and has flawless albums (unlike the Moodies). Your top 10 choices are right, but their order is debatable. GG could be first (expertise), KC could be first (started genre), and PF could be first (sales). I wouldn't put Yes first. GG, Gong, Genesis, VdGG, KC are in my top 10 favorites (others are Kansas, Nektar, Hawkwind, Renaissance and Zappa).
Much debate can be had on such a topic. The 70s Prog pioneers deserve all of the credit bestowed upon them. Camel (albums 2 - 4) are my favorite of the lot. IQ will forever be my favorite of the Neo era.
Would you consider "Brian Wilson Presents Smile" to be progressive rock? What about "Days of Future Passed?" I would remove two of your top 10 and include my two. Great list you had!
For me for example: May Blitz, Quatermass, Egg, Bakerloo, Home (The Alchemist), Gentle Giant (Three Friends), Amon Düül II (Tanz der Lemminge), Van der Graaf Generator (Pawn Hearts), Annexus Quam (Osmose), Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come (Galactic Zoo Dossier).
A great list. I started listening to rock and pop in the late 60's and moved more into Prog and some of those early bands like The Nice, Pink Floyd etc became more progressive. Some of the early prog bands sound rather dated to me now 50 years later but I still regularly listen to Tull, Camel, Caravan although all their albums have one track which doesn't quite hit the spot so my go-to album would be Argus by Wishbone Ash which is note perfect the whole way through and so unlike their other, good but more rock-orientated albums, that it could be a different band.
@@tixximmi1 Unfortunately, I never saw The Nice or Pink Floyd although I did see Keith Emerson with ELP in the early 70's. At that stage he was stabbing his Moog with knives to make it squeal which I felt was a bit "unnecessary"
@@richardsutton01 Never saw the knives but enjoyed that concert. And a couple with Atomic Rooster (Lake) and of course Fripp a few times. 1985 King Crimson with Levin and last year in Austin again Fripp and Levin. That show (3 drummers) was the classic Fripps Tripp. But all good music.
Big thumbs up for Red! Everyone seems to pick the debut, which is an important album, but as you pointed out does have some lulls. Red is all great, as is Discipline. I might make the argument that, despite having two members in common, the Red KC was a different band than the one that made Discipline, and put them both on my list.
There is a strong arument that Disciplne is a greater album and more influential than Red and should have replaced it ofn the list. I'm working on a 'Top 10 overlooked PROG masterpieces' and that might go on that...
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer discipline was the whole next era. i still remember when fripp killed the KC project after red. i was devastated. IMO, they were the best band that ever was. also the 1980's tour video from japan was totally amazing once they got the 2nd iteration going. i agree, the first album was great, but IMO, KC hit its stride on the 2nd album wake of poseidon, and all the albums through red are my favorites. i still remember playing larks tongues the first time, holy sh!t.
![ARGENTINA vs. CHILE [3-0] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 7](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/De3AWmXzhuA/mqdefault.jpg)
Prepare to be absolutely lambasted by a bunch of very polite Canadians suggesting Rush are not American.
"very polite Canadians" is a tautology, it has the same logical linguistic status as "ignorant selfish Americans".
Canada is America's tophat after all.
Hey! Here is my personal top ten Brazilian Progressive Rock Album!
10 - Tudo Foi Feito Pelo Sol (Os Mutantes)
09 - Milton (Milton Nascimento)
08 - Matança do Porco (Som Imaginário)
07 - Depois do Fim (Bacamarte)
06 - Lar de Maravilhas (Casa das Máquinas)
05 - Terreno Baldio (Terreno Baldio)
04 - Moto Perpétuo (Moto Perpétuo)
03 - Idade da Luz (14 Bis)
02 - Sagrado (Sagrado Coração da Terra)
01 - Criaturas da Noite (O Terço)
I'd say Hemispheres over Moving Pictures as the pinnacle of Rush's Prog era.. Camera Eye is however my favourite track from MP though.. Just a quick criticism Rush are not American they hail from Toronto in Canada hence YYZed... The Morse Code call sign or Pearson International Airport in Toronto 👍👍👍👍
Hey Mal, I was turned on to Rush in college back in 1983. My friend played me 2112 and I was blown away. Then I heard A Farewell to Kings and became a Rush fan for life! There were many great albums from the Terry Brown era but that is still my favorite.
Hemispheres for sure. Had it in red vinyl when it came out. Pretty sure it was red. For some unknown reason colours in general were variable at the time.
We're (Canadians) North American,.... but get your point.
Well let's do the Classic Best !! All are so close together.
1, Genesis - Foxtrot
2, Yes - Close To The Edge
3, King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King
4, Jethro Tull - Aqualung
5, Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
6, King Crimson - Starless And Bible Black
7, Genesis - Nursery Cryme
8, Gentle Giant - Playing the Fool (Yup it's Live so is most of KC Bible Black ! GG is just better Live !!)
9, Nektar - Remember The Future
10, Genesis - The Lamb
11, King Crimson - Red
12, Yes - Fragile
13, ELP - Tarkus
14, Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
15, Rush - 2112
Oh I really like your list. However, I'd have Rush's 'A Farewell To Kings' above '2112'. And I would defintely have to find a place for Camel ('Snowgoose' or 'Moonmadness') and maybe even the great Caravan album 'In The Land Of Grey And Pink'.
@@keithf_ Yes it's all good, like many of us I'm sure our favs are so close in a Top 10 or 20 by just 10ths !! And for me it always changes how I feel or memories of the bands I've seen etc I'm going on 66' now. Bottom line really is it was the Greatest time in Music the Classic Prog Era I believe, Great music and musicians and those Fantastic Gatefold covers to look at ! 👍🎶🎸🎹🎻🥁🎤🎼✌
Some of these bands were so good, you could easily have two of their albums on the list: Yes:Fragile,King Crimson: Larks Tongue, Genesis:Trick of the Tail,E.T.C.......great list!
I was so pleased to see the inclusion of "You" by Gong. It is a spectacular collision of inspired psychedelic lunacy and blazing musicianship unlike any other album. I think the climax of "A Sprinkling of Clouds" sounds like staring into the terrifying/beautiful face of God. It's my favorite instrumental piece ever.
amazing track !!
Great picks!!!
Thanks
The trio of albums that King Crimson made with Wetton are my favorites.
Fucking hell! So glad I came by this channel. Your stuff is great. Keep it up !
I'll give it a go - before viewing your top 10.
10) Force Majeur - Tangerine Dream
09) In The Court Of The Crimson King _ King Crimson
08) Mirage _ Camel
07) Close To The Edge _ Yes
06) Io Sono Nato Libero _ Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
05) Foxtrot _ Genesis
04) Wish You Were Here _ Pink Floyd
03) Thick As A Brick _ Jethro Tull
02) The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage _ Peter Hammill
01) Pawn Hearts _ Van der Graaf Generator
Notes - I had to make it one album per artist, otherwise my top 10 would be all Van der Graaf. Most prog fans rate Selling England By The Pound higher than Foxtrot. I can't because an album with 2 lower level songs (More Fool Me and I Know What I Like) knock SEBTP out of contention. ELP just doesn't have quite enough to make my top 10 though they are in my top 20 as are Gentle Giant, Le Orme, PFM, Klaus Schulze and Soft Machine. Finally - I just think Wish You Were Here is superior to Dark Side Of The Moon - both great but one has to be better and to me it is WYWH.
Great list! As always, wherever I venture and in a number of Prog books and Mags that I've read, the big 6 are always represented. Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, ELP, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull.
Then Rush, Gentle Giant, Camel, VanDerGraaf Generator, Gong, Caravan, are added along the way.
Marillion, Dream Theater, and Porcupine Tree, brought on a revival in the 90s and now there are so many diverse styles and bands contributing to the genre...
Opeth, Pineapple Thief, Riverside, Katatonia, Anathema, and on and on.
So much great stuff in the Prog Universe
I like your list Andy. So glad that Gong made it. Caravan’s “Girls That Grow Plump in the Night” album is fabulous with what I consider the best of orchestra and prog band playing together.
Thanks...I prefer Hatfield to Caravan. Mumps is astonishing...
Hillage and Allen hated the term. Too many bands are labelled prog, but especially Gong, and the Krautrock movement. To Hillage, it's a dirty word!
Not One Album Cover...LMAO
I'm a recent convert to prog and I've been consuming the genre with an unbridled passion for the last year or so. Yep, Foxtrot and Close To The Edge are just fantastic. I can't believe I didn't get into this music earlier. Making up for lost time now. Thanks for the vid, you've given me some great suggestions to listen to next. Subscribed.
I agree Foxtrot is Prog at its best. The Yes Album is also brilliant.
That album almost has to be listened to in it's entirely.
Can't forget A Trick Of The Tail.
Genesis and Yes had some of the greatest runs in brilliance: Nursery Crime, Foxtrot, Selling England...,The Lamb..., WnW, ATOTT; The Yes Album, Fragile, CTTE, TFTO, Relayer, GFTO.
The Beatles were phenoms, but boy these two bands + King Crimson at their peak were so brilliant!
Where is Focus? Literally best prog band
For me its foxtrot#2 and pawn hearts#1 you can have close to the edge number 3
You are spot on with your assessment of Octopus. My only critique is I would have put it higher on your list but they are now more appreciated than ever before. My friends and I were Gentle Giant fanatics when these albums were released and would get in fights with those pop rock knuckleheads who believed that bands like Kiss, Sweet or Bay City Rollers blew them away. I felt better when I gave them a good whipping, but harsh as that might sound, you didn’t have to like them but you better respect them.
I'm not English, but I adore Benny the Bouncer. Lake's gravely accent, the clever lyrics. ("They tried to put together all the bits that would fit.") The detuned piano, Emerson's little tag on the end, Palmer's saucy drum solo right before the tag, and the perfect end to the story.
Many music critics dislike ELP'S "fun" tracks, from which I conclude that music critics are a rather humorless lot. "Are You Ready Eddy" is another example; this is not a letdown, it's comic relief!
Benny was the bouncer at the Palais de Dance
He'd slash your granny's face up given half a chance.
He'd sell you back the pieces, all for less than half a quid
He thought he was the meanest-
Until he met with Savage Sid.
Now Sidney was a greaser with some nasty roots
He poured a pint of Guinness over Benny's boots
Benny looked at Sidney:
Sidney stared right back in his eye.
Sidney chose a switchblade
And Benny got a cold meat pie.
Oh! what a terrible sight,
Much to the people's delight.
One hell of a fight.
Sidney grabbed a hatchet, buried it, in Benny's head.
The people gasped as he bled:
The end of a Ted?
Well, they dragged him from the wreckage of the Palais in bits.
They tried to stick together all the bits that would fit.
But some of him was missing
And "part of him" arrived too late,
So now he works for Jesus
As the bouncer at St. Peter's Gate.
@@godbluffvdgg See? Just a harmless bit of fun! Not so much for Benny, though.
@@Glornt :)...I've loved it for half a century... ; )
Having immediately fallen in love with Genesis the moment I heard "the Musical box" in 1972: a year later YES playing "Close to the Edge" in concert blew my 17 year old mind. Now a 68 year old, I recently played "Suppers Ready" and "Close to the Edge" back to back. Let's face it they both appear on most of these prog masterpiece lists. The climax to "Suppers Ready is perfect: it emits a feeling of finally reaching a higher plane of existence wile "Close to the Edge", after Wakeman's organ solo, just doesn't give my heart the same air for my wings to soar as Genesis. On "Court of the Crimson King" of course "Moonchild" meanders yet, on the first listening, when the mellotron of the title track abruptly blasts out of nowhere it is unforgettable! Sadly on the second listening you are prepared. Still what a moment! "Pawn Hearts" side one IMHO is the masterpiece yet, as you intimated VDGG are a band to be reckoned with.
"YOU" - I once asked Daevid Allen why I could never finish playing "YOU" all the way through. He replied , I had these hot young musicians and do you think I could control them." Still It is s great to see Gong on your list. ..thank you
I agree Supper's Ready has a longer crescendo, but musically for me nothing compares to the end of CTTE. Of course art is subjective, but both are amazing masterpieces nonetheless. Great bands, incredible runs putting out masterpiece after masterpiece.
@@rodrigoodonsalcedocisneros9266 Close to the edge, down by the river
Down at the end, round by the corner
Seasons will pass you by,
Now that it's all over and done,
Called to the seed, right to the sun
Now that you find, now that you're whole
Seasons will pass you by,
I get up, I get down
I get up, I get down
I get up, I get down
I get up OR Can't you feel our souls ignite?
Shedding ever-changing colours
In the darkness of the fading night
Like the river joins the ocean
As the germ in a seed grows
We have finally been freed to get back home
There's an angel standing in the sun
And he's crying with a loud voice
"This is the supper of the mighty one"
Lord of Lords, King of Kings
Has returned to lead his children home
To take them to the new Jerusalem
Red is a fantastic album for sure but I’d like to point how I like Lizard, an album that even Robert Fripp didn’t like at all. A summit of bizarre but one of the most beautiful acoustic guitar tone ever recorded.
A few years ago, hard to believe I only owned Moving Pictures, but I came from the classic rock genre. Now I own 6 of your top 10 so I'm slowly climbing the Prog ladder and now it is my most listened to genre by far. You're on a terrific roll of really exciting, insightful video topics and now are one of my favorite channels along with Pete. You're made to do this, Andy, so I for one am rooting you on.
Typing as I listen to you, not a fan of ELP but a big fan of The Nice! much more raw and authentic and not contrived!
I hope you have got the best album of all time on your list or have you missed a 'Trick' here by not including this Genesis Album
I also love Tull what a talent!
Very few people reference VDGG or this incredible album which creates it's own unique soundscape.
One of my all time fave works.
I'm no expert on VdGG so I had to do some research so I'm glad those who are proper fans of them seem to be in agreement. I love Peter Hammill on Exposure by Fripp which is where I first came across him. Astonishing vocals on there
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Hammill is one of the most underrated prog artists. Massive and diverse output over the years, early solo albums like Chameleon in the Shadow of Night and The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage are awesome too, and his early 80s K Group records as well.
Soft Machine??
@@kenneththompson8933And later era Scott Walker. Bowie loved some of his stuff and clearly incorporated elements. As Walker did with all musics.
Good to see you on camera again, Andy! I find it great you can take an objective step back on the top 10 prog albums. This is not something I could do. Though, I agree on your #5 choice, as subjectively speaking I believe my favourite Rush track is "Red Barchetta". However, you did not even mention 'Permanent Waves'? # 3 choice is one I believe the entire world population would agree to. #2 choice, I agree with what you had to say about it. #1 choice, I can't argue.
Be lucky Rush is even on the list because technically they're not a true progressive rock band. They put out a couple progressive rock albums in the mid-to-late 70s however 95% of their music is Hard Rock fused with other types of music period talented yes extremely progressive rock n o t😮
Great list, arguably the ten greatest groups among a genre that has produced much great music. Here's a suggestion for you. Try 10 greatest European (non-UK) prog or greatest N. American prog albums / groups.
What I particularly like about your list is that it is going to get me to dig deeper into the groups that I have largely ignored over the years. Gong, Gentle Giant, VdGG are all groups of which I have heard & yet know almost nothing of their music. Even the inclusion of Rush, which I have largely ignored because of their huge popularity, is nudging me to dig deeper.
Arjen Lucassen to start with.
Good choices overall and being a lifelong YES fan I am happy to see you put it on top. You might want to add an early or prime time Kansas or Todd Rundgren album to that list. I need to listen to some of these albums which I have not listen to whole albums.You really should add Renaissance like The Ashes are Burning album orTurn if The Cars, or even A Man For All Seasons as they were unique and brilliant back in those early to mid 1970’s era!
I agree with you in adding Renaissance to this album list. Your album titles are a little off though, it should be "Turn of the Cards" and "A Song For All Seasons". Truly outstanding albums. Looking forward to seeing Annie Haslam and Renaissance in concert in a month or so.
Daevid Allen (Gong) was one of the first Australian musicians to venture into Prog-Rock.
Thank you Andy for your definitive prog rock albums. Very happy that you included Van der Graaf Generator’s Pawn Hearts! Waiting to hear your top 10 European or Italian Prog greatest albums. Cheers! Sal Randazzo.
That would be great!!!
I wish I had the knowledge to do that one....I could do European prog I think at a push
Red is my favorite album of any kind. A great album. And I like Providence, too! I like the King Crimson improvs.
The Wetton era improvs were true monstrosities in the best possible way! I've always loved Providence and Asbury Park among many others. Fantastic stuff! I like Belew era improvs too, but the Wetton era stuff is pure genius!
the court of the crimson king should be up there
The Great Deceiver box set is a must for this era of Crimson: all live :)
Can't really fault your choices but you have omitted bands from the Canterbury scene (apart from Genesis). Caravan, Hatfield and the North, Soft Machine, and Egg. Also an honourable mention for Camel, Marillion, Focus, Amon Duul II and, dare I say, Henry Cow.
So difficult to decide when the Rock/Prog boundary is so ill defined.
All in good humour.
I really did consider this and it would have been Caravan...Land of Grey and Pink...but I don't consider that greater than any of the albums of this list. My favourite is Hatfield and also that album by Khan is great if a little obscure.
Hi Andy. Just to clarify, Rush isn't an American band, they are Canadian. That may not seem like a big deal to someone in the UK but as a proud Canadian, I needed to clarify. Good list, by the way.
Rush are North Americans. 🙂
@@davestr7031 Technically, you are correct. But from a practical standpoint no one in North America thinks that way or speaks that way. You’re either proudly American or you are proudly Canadian. When I was younger he wise person told me “Never call a New Zealander an Australian, never call a Scotsman an Englishman, and never called a Canadian an American“.
If they were from Brazil he just as easily could and have said the South American band.In his way he's calling them THE BAND of North America!!!! Which they clearly are!!💜🧡💛💚💙❤👍👍👍👍👍
In his way he is calling Rush The North American Band!!! Which they obviously are!!!!💜❤🧡💛💚💙👍🍻
C,mon folks, you would NEVER call Yes or King Crimson a “European” band. Give Rush and Canada their due - they are Canadian.
My 10:
1) Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull
2) Close to the Edge - Yes
3) In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson
4) Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
5) Selling England by the Pound - Genesis
6) In A Glass House - Gentle Giant
7) Brain Salad Surgery - ELP
8) A Question of Balance - Moody Blues
9) Foxtrot - Genesis
10) Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
I think 'In the Court of the Crimson King' has to be there in any top-ten list, as it pioneered this subgenre and was its first masterpiece.
Loved this! Loads of my faves on here!
Octopus! The live version of Panurge GG did on that German TV show (see RUclips!) is brilliant and even more inventive. Blows my tiny mind!
Floyd: I sometimes think that if Shine On pts 6-9 we’re a little more avant-garde and cut a bit harder (to offset the more conventional previous tracks) that it would elevate WYWH to a different level. Still a fave of mine though! 🤓
Cheers!🍺
When I got into Genesis I got the Genesis Live album and completely obsessed over it. I probably played the album over 300 times during the next few months. The problem was the production quality was 10X better on the Live album than the Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, or Trespass albums such that that all the songs on the live album were un-listenable to me on the original albums. The funny thing is all the other songs on those albums sound fine to me because I never heard any other versions. Go figure.
I remember buying a new stereo turntable and speakers about 1975 and thinking my old Genesis albums would finally sound better. Nope. They sounded the same.
@@stevecoscia There is, in my non-humble opinion, something wrong with the 2-track master mix on those. The remix by Nick Davis in 2008 is superior.
Hi Andy, good list but would have suggested the debut album UK by UK should have been included together wth the likes of PFM (Photos of Ghosts) Focus (Moving Waves) Steve Wilson (To the Bone), Frank Zappa (One Size Fits All), Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells)
VDGG was the surprise of the list- thank you!
What can I say, Andy. You nailed it! Not just token entries but the best of the best. Great job!
Wow, thanks!
Great list!! So glad to see Gong and Gentle Giant getting some love. I love TAAB by Tull, but personally I like A Passion Play as much or better. Same album-long concept but better done, IMO. Also, no discussion of North American prog is complete without including Ambrosia. Although mostly known for their Yacht-rock classics (How Much I Feel, You're the Only Woman, and Biggest Part of Me), everything else from their early catalog is hardcore prog and is amazing. Love it!
Prog Rock is fundamentally a British concept. It started here and other countries followed. America has no one, even the awful Kansas!
Hey Andy - My Top 10 Prog Songs
1. Awaken - Yes
2. Supper`s Ready - Genesis
3. Further Away - IQ
4. Forgotten Sons - Marillion
5. YYZ - Rush
6. Leviathan - Pendragon
7. Cut and Run - Pallas
8. Starship Trooper - Yes
9. The Seventh House - IQ
10. The Crucifixion - Aragon
Keep up the wonderful work you are doing and crash those drums of yours for another 100 years!
try these guys on for size, Mystery from Quebec Montreal: ruclips.net/video/_cEgZ9ohYHE/видео.html
A great list Meinhart, but here's mine. Let me know what you think. I'm going first to tenth.
1. Supper's Ready-Genesis
2. Trilogy-ELP
3. And You and I- Yes
4.Firth of Fifth-Genesis
5. Echoes-Camel
6. Hero and Heroine- Strawbs
7. I Think of You-Renaissance
8. Yours Is No Disgrace-Yes
9. Cinema Show-Genesis
10. Celebration-Premiata Forneria Marconi
My ten greatest prog albums:
1.- Close to the Edge - Yes
2.- Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
3.- The Snow Goose - Camel
4.- Red - King Crimson
5.- Moving Pictures - Rush
6.- Deadwing - Porcupine Tree
7.- A Tab in the Ocean - Nektar
8.- Bridge Across Forever - Transatlantic
9.- Los Jaivas - Alturas de Machu Pichu
10.- Originallis - Cast
Absolutely, Yes "Close to the edge"
But for Genesis, I would pick "The lamb lies down on Broadway". It's a far more cohesive and modern album
Agree!
I know this list is consisting of studio albums but King Crimson’s live compilation “The Great Deceiver” is my favorite work from them. Highly recommend listening to anyone who hasn’t heard yet.
Absolutely! That is the best of the 70s iteration of the band for sure.
Your choices wouldn't be mine but I really do appreciate how you have approached this and it's certainly a good list.
For me personally it would have to be Tull at the number one position. Just love their stuff.
My first Genesis album was Trespass. Although it was recorded prior to Steve Hackett and Phil Collins joining the band, Trespass still has some excellent songs on it beyond the Knife.
The Roger Dean album cover to Octopus is amazing but I love the album cover to Acquiring the Taste even more!! It's hilarious!!!😂
That often gets voted one of the worst allbum covers ever!!!!
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer One album cover I love even more is Acid Motherhood by Gong!!! It's the best fucking album cover I've ever seen!!! It's absolutely hilarious!!!😂🤣🤣
I hadda look...and that cannot be u seen. Thanks a lot.
;-)
:)...I love Acquiring AND the cover is AWESOME...Best Giant album by far...
@@godbluffvdgg I wouldn't say by far but it might be my favorite!
Great list, mate, and every time you argued the case I thought, fair point, objectively so
Prefer A Passion Play over Thick everyday. Nailed it with Close to the Edge!
Very very interesting list, Andy, and I now have a few albums to listen to. To me, Thick As A Brick is a wonderful example of a work of art that is unintentionally great. I k know it was intended to be a parody, but it works so well, and I find it, at times, profoundly moving, possibly due to the fact that I first heard it as an adolescent.
In the Cv scam I did a desert island discs with friends on best 12 . The Bible works of Shakespeare and Dark side were on the island.
1. The lamb
2. BSS
3. Topographic
4. Brick
5. Spartacus
6 The Captain and me
7. Banco
8.Argus
9.Fox trot
10. Caravanserai
11. The court
12. I ( Moraz)
And for my sis , Garry bloody Nueman
Your #1 might be the best rock album, period.
I really like your list Andy....very good choices...not all, but most. I'm sorry, but I can't believe, looking at all the comments, that nobody chose Hero and Heroine by Strawbs, except me. It's a brilliant album and considering Strawbs use to be more of a folk rock group, for them to jump into the prog rock scene was truly remarkable.
Thanks for mentioning Strawbs 🏅
@@FaunNR1 You're welcome.
Brillant I bought 7 of those Albums by the age 16 and still
Listening 40 years later
Porcupine Tree, Pineapple Thief, Airbag and Riverside, theses is the super Prog Rock bands!!!!!!!!!
What i mostly see are 70s bands and i sure agree with the list at a point. But i wonder if bands like Ayreon (Into the Electric Castle) should be a newcomers. We all love Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson, Rush, Genesis etc. But Also take a look at Ayreon, Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater.
Overall I'm happy with your list. BSS is indeed the correct ELP album. Im a Tales guy for Yes, Selling England for Genesis, Wish You Were Here for Floyd, and I'd maybe replace VDGG with an 80's era Crimson. But your list is honorable indeed!
Great video great choice and explanation well done Andy again
I’m very new to prog. I’m more of a hard rock & metal guy.
I’ve listened to a few of these recently and was genuinely excited when you mentioned “Red” by King Crimson. That album is fantastic. “Red”, “Starless” & “Fallen Angel” are beyond awesome!
I finally got to listen to ”Closer to the Edge” by Yes and I clearly understand why it’s number 1. Those songs were great and the perfect length.
“Thick as a Brick” by Jethro Tull is also great. I think side one is the best, most consistent side for its length, but side two loses me in the beginning, but then brings on the greatness. I would’ve preferred that song to be broken into smaller songs if possible so I can hear the sections I like.
I’ve known Pink Floyd since I was a teen in the ‘90s. I think I was the only teenager at my school with a Pink Floyd T-Shirt. My personal favorite song of theirs is “Pigs (The Three Different Ones)”.
My thoughts on Gentle Giant is they are like the Geeky LARPers of prog rock. That’s what I imagine when I listen to their music. They are great musicians for sure, though. That’s not in question, but they sound really geeky.
I think I’ll stop there. I don’t want to ramble any further. I have listen to the other groups except the one you placed at 10.
Loved listening to 'Trilogy' and saw ELP in concert, but I put them down because I so often heard the over the top flamboyance which came off as pompous. So I too will go back and give 'Brain Salad' a serious listen. 'Octopus' is a must. Not a Rush fan, but totally agree with your choice of 'Moving Pictures'. No argument with 'Red'. 'Starless' is so completely BLACK. Glad to have heard them live in 2021. 'Dark Side' is impossibly good and a must choice, but 'Animals' (saw that tour) and 'Wish You Were Here' are spectacular. 'Supper's Ready' is perhaps my favorite Genesis song, but 'The Lamb' is rock's best album.....flawed, slightly; but the concept, lyrics and scope are mind blowing. One of the 20th century's epic works of art. I have even grown to like 'Silent Sorrow'. AND I would put it at #1 with 'Close' a close #2. (sorry, a bad pun just seemed appropriate) Seeing Genesis in 1978 was the best concert of my life. Although Weather Report was very nearly the best! GREAT list. Now I must look up Gong and listen to 'You', thank you very much.
Just discovered your channel, and enjoying your list of overlooked prog albums. While I'm by no means a Prog aficionado, I've recently been discovering the catalogue of Renaissance, a band I hitherto only knew from their pop hit Northern Lights. Anyway, they stand out for me for a number of reasons: firstly, they're a rare Prog band of the 70s which had a female singer (or any female member come to that), the magnificent Annie Haslam; they were *superb* musicians and composers; and the subject matter of their songs was very unusual, probably because their lyrics were mostly written by poet Betty Thatcher, not a member of the band. Their run of albums from Ashes Are Burning through to A Song For All Seasons are absolutely outstanding. Are you a fan?
I have never really listened to them tbh. What would be a good track to listen to first?
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer I would say a good place to dip a toe in the water would be one of these: Ashes Are Burning; Mother Russia; Running Hard; Ocean Gypsy; A Song For All Seasons. I hope you enjoy them, they're undeservedly forgotten I feel.
@@TheoZoffrok Renaissance seemed to be more popular here in the US, especially the eastern US. I remember a Melody Maker critic saying he didn't much like the band, but loved the track "Mother Russia!" (I like the Prologue album best myself.)
@@patbarr1351 I like Prologue, though it's not *quite* up to the standard of its successors IMO. Mother Russia is an amazing song.
I was afraid that this was going to be yet another cliché 'best of' list, but the moment you included Van der Graaf Generator’s Pawn Hearts I realized this is a list compiled by someone with the know how.
Thanks
Thick As A Brick is probably one of the most self aware prog albums and more importantly, done with a sense of humour. We expect it now but Progressive (big and small p) rock was quite po-faced. Gentle Giant were one of the few bands who got this, especially later.
I agree...this humility is part of what I call The English Aesthetic and is essential for great prog. I may do a video defining this...
I love most of those albums! But my favorite 25 prog albums would be:
1. Shintokumaru by J. A. Seazer
2. Mekanik Destruktiv Kommandöh by Magma
3. Gusliar by Pesniary
4. Ecophony Gaia by Geinoh Yamashirogumi
5. Music inspired by lord of the rings by Bo Hansson
6. Hybris by Änglagård
7. 4visions by Eskaton
8. Ocean by Eloy
9. First Utterance by Comus
10. Haikara by Haikara
11. Flying Teapot by Gong
12. Måltid by Samla Mammas Manna
13. God says I can't dance by Tipographica
14. Univers Zero by Univers Zero
15. Thick as a brick
16. Being by Wigwam
17. Pawn Hearts
18. Satori by Flower Travellin Band
19. Anabelas by Bubu
20. Gunesh by Gunesh Ensemble
21. Angherr Shispa by Koenji Hyakkei
22. Kokkyou Junreika by J. A. Seazer
23. Rituale Alieno by Universal Totem Orchestra
24. Bondage Fruit by Bondage Fruit
25. Sky by Sky
Very niche!!!
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer If you would have asked me 10 years ago my number one would have been the Lamb!!!
crap.... your not cool like you think...
Interesting list. Never heard of some of them. Magma released some strange stuff for sure. Eloy is great!
@@DavidLazarus Thanks! Eloy has a lot of great albums! If you like some of the weirder bands like Magma and Gong I would highly recomend J.A.Seazer and Geinoh Yamashirogumi. If you like symphonic prog I would highly recomend Gusliar by Pesniary!!!
I have many of these, no argument re 'Close to the Edge' and 'Foxtrot', that's for sure!
I strongly recommend 'Garden Shed' by England, and 'Jumbo', 'Rockpommel's Land' and 'Merry-go-Round' by Grobschnitt
I know England very well...
Really any of Peter Hammill’s solo albums from 73-75 could’ve been on this list for me. Especially “The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage” or “In Camera” both are really great, with several of the songs on both having most of all of the members of VDGG playing on them. You also get some more personal acoustic stuff from Hammill as well as reworked version of songs that were going to be on VDGG’s follow up to “Pawn Hearts” if they’d stayed together in 73. Highlights from “Silent Corner” definitely being Forsaken Gardens, The Lie, and A Louse Is Not A Home. For “In Camera” I’d say Sub Mariner and Gog are my favorites. Both of those albums in full are experiences in themselves.
This list is like the best of from my childhood and young adult years! It's really quite heartening to see Van Der Graaf Generator getting some love.
Saw VDGG live in the 70s at a very small venue with great sound, was very impressed with the bass player.. Hamills voice is impressive as well, but not always spot on, I find their work a bit depressing, though it was a great set list.
Relayer, Brain Salad Surgery.
Who doesn’t know this?
Excellent list. But my problem is, I could do one hundred "10 best albums of all time" lists and always thinking I hadn't been fair to some...!
... this is exactly the problem with trying to come up with lists like this. I could come up with a new list every week. There are at least 200 albums which in some way "deserve" to be in a list of the top 10! 🙂
Love your jazz/jazz fusion contributions to Sea of Tranquility so this ought to be a real treat. Thanks for sharing! Curious if you are a big Rahssan Roland Kirk fan, hey?
Great choices Andy!!! It's almost a flawless selection!!!! "Aqualung", "In the Court Of The Crimson King", "Larks' Tongues' in Aspic, "Fragile", "Selling England By The Pound", "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", "Trilogy", "Animals" could be there too but then it wouldn't be the 10 greatest but the 20 greatest! I never understood why all channels and Prog lovers always include only one album per band. Why not 2 or 3??!! IN rock and roll history surely The Beatles and The Rolling Stones must have 2 or 3 albums each on the list (top 15, top 20, perhaps even in top 10) !! See you !!!
Andy, give the “Black Noise” release by FM a listen, it’s a masterpiece you missed, & they’re a Canadian rock trio, stablemates to Rush also.
Mi TOP 10 del rock progresivo:
1. Pink Floyd - Meddle
2. King Crimson - Islands
3. Yes - Fragile
4. Genesis - Nursery Cryme
5. Nektar - A Tab In The Ocean
6. Rush - 2112
7. Camel - Mirage
8. Gentle Giant - Octopus
9. Pulsar - The Strands Of The Future
10. Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Nektar !!! 🎶👍
Thumps up - a very good and original list. And finally one who agrees with me, that Nursery is the best Genesis Prog album - so emotional and intense!
@@runepedersenDKNursery is still so good to listen to !! 🎶
@@ronniefarnsworth6465 That's an understatement ;-)
It's still is on my all time favorite album (all genres) top 10 here in 2022 🙂
I think Meddle as number 1 is on the money, Echos is the Floyed master piece, more so than side 1 of Dark Side of the Mood.
I had a feeling you would get much correct, but I have been, myself, considering this, waiting for this a very long time...We all know your two immediate errors, which easily could have been resolved with one more consideration I'd beg of you, retaining the central point, in this case time. An album from 1974 does not belong, unless you widen your scope. By 1974, the American album, not Canadian (Moving Pictures is prog metal not progrock) album that should have been included was Killer by Alice Cooper. Perhaps it was equally as difficult for you to hear AC as it was for me to hear Genesis. I was dreadfully unacculturated growing up in the southern u.s.. But most of these bands, particularly Yes, which you nailed, Gentle Giant, I am so fortunate to have found at some point and heard. Thank you, and for all the music from over there...p.s., if you must put a Canadian band, include Fly BY Night, THAT is progressive rock
Ruh is Canadian :). You made me laugh with your "confession" about why you chose Octopus as the GG album in this list :P
Absolutely agree Andy. However I think kraut rock should be represented as being an important creative arm of prog! In the case I would choose either Phaedra from Tangerine Dream or Ege Bamyasi from Can, absolute gems in my view.
None of the German bands saw themselves as progressive rock. They thought they had their own thing going on, and they should know.
@@Katehowe3010 Many bands rejected that label. It was applied by critics first, then fans came on board. I recall GGiant (probably Derek) declaring that "we're a rock band!"
@Pat Barr Absolutely. One of the most misleading terms for a host of bands.
I agree fully about 4 of the albums: Pawn Hearts, Foxtrot, Close to the Edge and Red. Then there are 6 albums left. I am sorry, but I am not a fan of Rush or ELP. Dark Side of the Moon is acceptable, but not my Pink Floyd favourite. Thick as a Brick is a fine album, but is it really prog rock?? I have never heard the Gentle Giant or the Gong album, but I will surely look for them in the Danish library catalogue - thanks for telling me about them! Are something missing on the list? It could be an album by Camel or Caravan, but I think it would be more fair to pick an album no 2 from Yes or VDGG.
I would say Thick as a Brick is about as prog as it gets, it was actually Ian Anderson satirising prog,
It is certainly a very balanced and very representative ranking. But instead of moving pictures by rush I would certainly insert Valentyne suite by C
olosseum. There are at least 100 contenders for 10 places, such as BMS, Grobshnitt, Amon duul, Hatfield and the north, camel, caravan, Ange, Renaissance, the first marillion with fish, and so on.
but I agree on the bands that have represented the most progressive
You forgot "The doughnut in granny's greenhouse" by the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band.
Mansuns "Six" is the best prog album every and nothing can come close to it. The best album I've ever heard and will ever hear. It will never be bettered.
It is a incredibly good album. Great choice👍
I can't really argue with your list .I'm glad to see Pawn Hearts make it -such an underrated album.I love Foxtrot too but I actually found the production a bit dry and brittle-unlike Selling England By The Pound which has a rich warm sound -so easy on the ear. Oh well. I can see why you would include You out of all the Gong albums. Personally I prefer Angel's Egg which is more fun and quirky but I agree that You is highly influential.
I love Angels Egg and it has more songs on it which represent Gong better but You is just so awe inspiring and perfectly conceived. And Perfect Mystery is the perfect Goong song. I also include Fish Rising as well and is equal to anything in the Teapot Trilogy
I concur about Pawn Hearts. Indeed there are a number of VDGG albums that transcend all else (including Time Vaults). Criminally neglected on home shores, Gods in Italy. The Italians had it right.
@@BiSIDOLISDEAD They ( Italians/Latins) understand heart and passion better than most other nationalities. VDGG is my favorite prog group...Hammill's lyrics and their musicianship is "transcendent" indeed... Personally, I think Still Life is their magnum opus.
@@godbluffvdggVDGG's sound is unlike any other band that I've come across and Peter Hammill's lyrics and voice exude raw gut wrenching emotion. I was obsessed with VDGG in my teens and '20's. They will always be essential listening; in other words, I'm no different to any other VDGG fan 😁
Amusingly, one drummer appears twice on your list, and has played with two other bands in the list. I think it's fair to say that Bill Bruford is the quintessential pror rock drummer.
I would recommend A Farewell to Kings over Moving Pictures. More authenticially prog.
Three observations Andy
1 love what you are doing
2 side 2 of hounds of love -one of the greatest programme masterpieces
3 fusion masterpieces anything of we like it here or culcha Vulcan
Another Andy
Of course it's all subjective and a matter of personal taste, so here are my 10 personal favorite prog rock albums....only one album from any band, and in no particular order, apart from The Dark Side of the Moon at a definite number 1 (the greatest album ever recorded in any genre in my humble opinion!):
1. Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
2. Yes: Relayer
3. King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King
4. Genesis: Selling England by the Pound
5. ELP: Trilogy
6. Gentle Giant: Octopus
7. Todd Rundgren's Utopia
8. Soft Machine: Softs
9. Camel: The Snow Goose
10. Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells
Great choices and very important albums! Any prog head worth their salt, knows every nuance of them...:)...Making a list of the top ten prog albums is no easy task...Most of the well known group's have many albums that eclipse most other prog groups...I love Gong, Camel, Triumvirate et al. but; VDGG with H to He, or Still Life, Pawn Hearts etc. or Giant with In a Glass House or Power and the Glory, Three Friends, Octopus etc...ELP, Genesis, Crimso, U.K, Floyd...I can pick the top ten GROUPS...But; as I'm sure you're well aware...We play our prog for how we're feeling at that moment... Subbed.
Off the back of this I went back to listen to 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' again. One of the things that struck me was how good Michael Giles' drumming is on it. I know you highlighted Bruford in King Crimson and of course his contributions to prog drumming are legendary with Rush being fans but Michael's playing on the first album really augments the tracks in my opinion. And I know that's me as an amateur bedroom guitarist and music fan saying that to a pro drummer but I love listening to great drumming on albums.
So very happy to see Gong and Gentle Giant here. My circle of friends and I have always loved both, but we've always been outliers, even back in the magical 70s. The only band that would have been even more surprising and satisfying to see here would be Greenslade, but that would really be asking a lot...
Greenslade...that is deep into prog there
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer
There's a real Greenslade gem I recently discovered from the Old Grey Whistle Stop, stitched together from two separate live in the studio performances in 1973. It is truly breathtaking. No guitars, just Dave Greenslade and Dave Lawson on keyboards, Andy McCullough fresh from King Crimson on drums, and the amazing Tony Reeves from Colosseum (like Greenslade) playing the most melodic lead bass you ever heard, especially on Melange, somewhere around 9 minutes in this stunning clip, which I will try to locate for you. I mean, it's prog, it's jazz, it's rock and even classical. The only other bands that even attempted such an expansive, subversively counter-trendy bending of genres (no guitars!) were Gryphon, which I loved but who sort of got lost in their krumhorns and electric bassoons, and then later the Dixie Dregs (but those guys did it with a red-hot young guitar god) and Rick Wakeman on his Journey to the Center of the Earth and Six Wives of Henry VIII records.
Found it:
ruclips.net/video/U8NBCFO3GtI/видео.html
In this case, the old saying if a little is good than more must be better applies. The albums of Yes and King Crimson would just about cover my top 10. Would probably throw in some Jethro Tull and Genesis and call it a day. Pink Floyd would have to be in a separate category called Slow-gressive.
Job well done - anyone who isnt into prog or who wants to find out more about prog would be well served in checking out your top ten.
I might disagree with the positions of some of your choices, but thats just my personal taste, and you could have gone rogue and done a top 11 just to get Tubular Bells in. Lengthening out to twelve could also have added in Caravan's In the land of grey or pink, maybe, and that would have covered just about all bases - though it could be argued that You represents Canterbury.
I think Permanent Waves is better than Moving Pictures and for me that's their pinnacle, but Rush deserves to be on this list.
Great list Andy.
I feel like throwing out a personal list, all of a sudden.
10. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
9. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
8. ELP - Tarkus
7. Yes - Close to the Edge
6. Genesis - Foxtrot
5. Jethro Tull - Aqualung
4. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
3. Yes - Fragile
2. King Crimson - Larks Tongues in Aspic
1. King Crimson - Discipline
It just had to be like that.
Yikes, some of those take me back, in a good way! Great choices.
Yup. Great list. I agree with many many of your calls. My list would be different a bit, of course, but I keep doing the same thing. There are albums which are very subjective and they made me who I am. Then, there are the monumental albums which you just acknowledge. And there are those who are both. Like Red (and LTIA of course), Dark Side (My personal favorite will always be piper, Saucerful and Atom Heart), Foxtrot (Nursery too), Close to the Edge (Funny, but it's a tie for me with Fragile and Going for the one), Octopus, Brain Salad Surgery (I personally prefer Trilogy), Pawn Hearts (I'm really into World Record and Still Life. They are for me the absolute masterpieces from VDGG). Thick as a brick is a great choice for this list (but Stand-up and Benefit are really where JT hit me to the point of crying). and Gong.....Oh dear, so many albums to choose from. You is definitely right up there with Angel's Eggs. Just unexplainable bliss.
Anyway, really love your channel. Watching it for the last few weeks and slowly picking up. I have so much to agree and challenge you at the same time, it's really fantastic. Thank you for doing this!!
I've generally considered Brain Salad Surgery a weak album, ergo I made my own more 'popular' version cutting Karn Evil 9 way back, and adding the 'outtakes' from Works Vol. II:
Side One
1. Tiger In a Spotlight
2. Toccata
3. Still... You Turn Me On
4. Benny the Bouncer
5. Brain Salad Surgery
Side Two
1. Jerusalem
2. Karn Evil 9: First Impression (only)
3. When the Apple Blossoms Bloom In the Windmills of Your Mind I'll Be Your Valentine
I made the various tracks (from each side) segue into each other, and curiously enough (by iTunes timing anyway) both sides turned out to be exactly the same in length.
Nice list but I miss one of the best prog combo ever, if not the best since the early 80's. I named IQ. An obscure and morose prog group you surely don't know at all (wink). Yes they are not as old as the ones on this list but in my opinion they strongly preserved and improved prog rock for the past 40 years. You appear on one of their best efforts but my choice is "The Wake". For me this album is now a classic.
I agree entirely....my favourite is Ever...
I would be hard pressed to come up with a definitive top 10 list for progressive or any other genre of music, that said Genesis "Foxtrot" is my favorite album of all-time.
One thing I noticed about it (and the earlier albums W/PG and Hackett) but mainly Foxtrot...I have never gotten tired of listening to it, turned it off part way through to listen too something different. it still is fresh and exciting as it was 50 years ago and I think that says volumes about MY #1 album for all time and I will add "Suppers Ready" my favorite #1song of all-time.
In terms of prog history...Supper's Ready is a high point. Up there with Awaken by Yes...
King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Kate Bush , Yes so much music to choose from , mostly UK based.
Great job! I've always heard that the 10 classic prog bands include Camel and the Moody Blues (instead of Gong and Rush). Sometimes Zappa is also included. However, I much prefer Gong, as Gong's You is in my personal top 10 favorite albums. Rush is also great, and has flawless albums (unlike the Moodies). Your top 10 choices are right, but their order is debatable. GG could be first (expertise), KC could be first (started genre), and PF could be first (sales). I wouldn't put Yes first. GG, Gong, Genesis, VdGG, KC are in my top 10 favorites (others are Kansas, Nektar, Hawkwind, Renaissance and Zappa).
Much debate can be had on such a topic. The 70s Prog pioneers deserve all of the credit bestowed upon them. Camel (albums 2 - 4) are my favorite of the lot. IQ will forever be my favorite of the Neo era.
Would you consider "Brian Wilson Presents Smile" to be progressive rock? What about "Days of Future Passed?" I would remove two of your top 10 and include my two. Great list you had!
Like the Rush and I agree. But they are Canadian not American. You have to be careful I think. Red also I agree. One of the greatest albums ever.
For me for example: May Blitz, Quatermass, Egg, Bakerloo, Home (The Alchemist), Gentle Giant (Three Friends), Amon Düül II (Tanz der Lemminge), Van der Graaf Generator (Pawn Hearts), Annexus Quam (Osmose), Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come (Galactic Zoo Dossier).
We need a video of side long epics
Rush is Canadian!
Another great Canadian Prog band: Saga.
And, Harmonium.
Calling Rush American is like telling an Irishman he is English...
A great list. I started listening to rock and pop in the late 60's and moved more into Prog and some of those early bands like The Nice, Pink Floyd etc became more progressive. Some of the early prog bands sound rather dated to me now 50 years later but I still regularly listen to Tull, Camel, Caravan although all their albums have one track which doesn't quite hit the spot so my go-to album would be Argus by Wishbone Ash which is note perfect the whole way through and so unlike their other, good but more rock-orientated albums, that it could be a different band.
Try this unknown band from Quebec Montreal, Mystery, Benoit David that replaced Jon Anderson came from here: ruclips.net/video/C1nOEWq8vdY/видео.html
Loved Argus, and the Nice too, Foxtrot is a masterpiece, Songs from the Wood Brilliant
but I still come back to 'A trick of the Tail'
Funny back in the '60s I saw The Nice open for Pink Floyd.
@@tixximmi1 Unfortunately, I never saw The Nice or Pink Floyd although I did see Keith Emerson with ELP in the early 70's. At that stage he was stabbing his Moog with knives to make it squeal which I felt was a bit "unnecessary"
@@richardsutton01 Never saw the knives but enjoyed that concert. And a couple with Atomic Rooster (Lake) and of course Fripp a few times. 1985 King Crimson with Levin and last year in Austin again Fripp and Levin. That show (3 drummers) was the classic Fripps Tripp. But all good music.
Big thumbs up for Red! Everyone seems to pick the debut, which is an important album, but as you pointed out does have some lulls. Red is all great, as is Discipline. I might make the argument that, despite having two members in common, the Red KC was a different band than the one that made Discipline, and put them both on my list.
There is a strong arument that Disciplne is a greater album and more influential than Red and should have replaced it ofn the list. I'm working on a 'Top 10 overlooked PROG masterpieces' and that might go on that...
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer discipline was the whole next era. i still remember when fripp killed the KC project after red. i was devastated. IMO, they were the best band that ever was. also the 1980's tour video from japan was totally amazing once they got the 2nd iteration going. i agree, the first album was great, but IMO, KC hit its stride on the 2nd album wake of poseidon, and all the albums through red are my favorites. i still remember playing larks tongues the first time, holy sh!t.