In search of a prog rock shopping for information? Nicely, the progressive rock enviornment has its personal ecosystem of landmark albums and artists. Inevitably, in such a biosphere, there’s an unstated hierarchy by which sure works are extra well known than others. So what we’ve created here’s a little bit of a combination and match, with some undisputed prog landmarks and lesser-appreciated gems of the style. Our record spans the Nineteen Seventies and early ‘80s, and is offered in chronological order.
Caravan – Within the Land of Gray and Pink (1971)
The cornerstones of prog typically can’t be measured when it comes to business success, and also you gained’t discover any signal of style mainstays Caravan’s third album within the UK bestsellers. By that reckoning, the band registered a mere two weeks on these charts in any respect. However the Canterbury scenesters made an indelible impression on followers with this LP, which as our devoted story describes, conjured Tolkienesque pictures of a “Middle Earth sunset.”
Genesis – Nursery Cryme (1971)
It’s inconceivable to assume it now, however this staging submit within the Genesis story didn’t make the UK album listings till the Nineteen Eighties, after which solely simply. However it’s warmly regarded by their cognoscenti because the LP on which each Phil Collins and Steve Hackett joined to finish what grew to become the band’s traditional — many say best-ever — line-up of the primary half of the Nineteen Seventies.
Van Der Graaf Generator – Pawn Hearts (1971)
Fashioned in 1967 within the fervid inventive melting pot of Manchester College, Van Der Graaf Generator’s first label deal was with Mercury, however they began their relationship with the storied Charisma label in 1970. Pawn Hearts ably showcased the songs of Peter Hamill and his fellow multi-instrumentalists Hugh Banton, David Jackson, and Man Evans, with visitor appearances by one Robert Fripp.
Peter Hammill – The Silent Nook and The Empty Stage (1974)
Hammill, in the meantime, recorded his personal third album throughout an inactive interval for Van Der Graaf Generator, earlier than the 1975 group reunion that produced Godbluff. The solo venture nonetheless included contributions from his bandmates in addition to a lead guitar cameo by Spirit’s Randy California. Head Heritage described The Silent Nook… as “simultaneously time-locked and timeless” and “criminally disregarded.”
Camel – Mirage (1974)
One other of the must-includes for any prog rock shopping for information, this was the second LP by the band shaped in Surrey in 1971. It noticed them not solely survive a transfer from MCA to Deram Information, however to hit their stride with a permanent favourite. Learn extra about the historical past of Mirage right here.
Supertramp – Crime of the Century (1974)
Supertramp grew to become a multi-platinum attraction with Breakfast In America, however their first breakthrough to the massive league got here with this third album. It gave them a UK hit single in “Dreamer,” contained the favored “Bloody Well Right” and showcased the band’s writing powerhouse of Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.
Rick Wakeman – The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Spherical Desk (1975)
This will likely typically have been held up as a major instance of the music that punk was going to comb apart. However one among prog’s grand ideas has not solely endured, its reminiscence has been enhanced with the passing many years, alongside the widespread admiration for Rick Wakeman’s keyboard wizardry. For its fortieth anniversary, it was even carried out on ice.
Steve Hackett – Voyage of the Acolyte (1975)
Guitar virtuoso Steve Hackett was nonetheless a member of Genesis when he launched this primary solo album, having developed it throughout and after The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. Youthful brother John performed on it, as did Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford, and it supplied a agency foothold for the solo profession that Hackett would begin in earnest quickly afterward.
Rush – Shifting Photos (1981)
A inventive and business success that was already Rush’s eighth studio album. It arrived within the wake of the approval for 1980’s Everlasting Waves and have become even larger, with 4 million shipments within the US alone. In a Rolling Stone evaluation of the best prog albums of all time, printed in 2015, it was crushed solely by Pink Floyd’s The Darkish Aspect of the Moon and King Crimson’s In The Courtroom of the Crimson King.
Barclay James Harvest – A Live performance For The Folks (Berlin) (1982)
It’s a measure of the longevity that Barclay James Harvest had achieved even by 1982 that this was already their third reside album, launched once they had 11 studio units to their title. It was named each for the town by which it was recorded (on the steps of the Reichstag, in 1980) and the Les Holroyd music, initially from XII, that opened the present.
Which prog albums would make your shopping for information? Tell us within the feedback.
