Drawing up a listing of the 50 finest prog rock bands is an formidable venture if there ever was one. Then once more, the most effective prog is at all times about ambition of some type.
For this record, we’ve tried to signify prog and all its main subdivisions. However, crucially, that is strictly a listing of bands, not solo artists (or individuals who often labored beneath their very own identify) – so sorry Messers Zappa and Oldfield, we’ll get to you subsequent time round. We’ve included a variety of trendy bands in addition to a number of who disappeared after the 70s, however the highest slots went to these bands who spanned a number of totally different artistic eras.
The query of what’s and isn’t prog was just a little more durable. We tended to want bands with a sure European strategy who largely aren’t blues-based – which might exclude bands like Led Zeppelin, Wishbone Ash, Visitors, and Deep Purple, all of whom have been blues-rooted bands that intersected with prog rock. (Nonetheless, there was no leaving out Procol Harum, who began as an R&B band however branched off from there.) The fashionable bands we picked have been allowed to attract from metallic or alt-rock, so long as their 70s prog roots have been nonetheless distinguished. Likewise, we ignored a slew of bands – from Steely Dan to 10cc to XTC to Radiohead – who are usually cherished by prog followers, however are actually off in another sphere. In the end, we needed to throw up our arms and say the only technique to rule whether or not one thing was prog rock or not was “you simply know it when you hear it.”
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50: Aphrodite’s Baby
Initially a heavy psychedelic band, the Greek band Aphrodite’s Baby delivered one among prog rock’s visionary idea albums within the double epic 666, a wild thoughts journey loosely a couple of touring circus present that performs in the course of the apocalypse. Unsurprisingly, famed visible artist Salvador Dali was an enormous fan. Aphrodite chief Vangelis Papathanassiou had grand visions of writing movie soundtracks, which he finally did to nice success – however he seldom matched the audacity of this work.
49: Tangerine Dream
Together with Kraftwerk, no band did greater than Tangerine Dream to increase the probabilities of the synthesizer. Throughout their heyday they used nearly nothing else, and conjured up a exceptional set of soundscapes and atmospheres, improvising freely throughout dwell reveals.
48: Fragile
A contemporary band with a traditional sound, the European-based Fragile labored as a Sure tribute band earlier than they began writing their very own materials. Their 2022 authentic launch Past is shut because it will get to a misplaced Sure album, within the traditional mould of a side-long and two half-side tracks. It’s all upped a number of notches by the singing of Claire Hamill, whose resume features a stint with Wishbone Ash and an look on a Steve Howe solo album. She’s so good with Fragile that it’s a must to marvel why Sure by no means got here searching for her.
47: Nektar
Admired by Frank Zappa (who picked them as his opening band in 1973), Nektar expanded the spacier aspect of early Pink Floyd with a heightened sense of songcraft. Their two peak albums, A Tab within the Ocean and Bear in mind the Future, are as tuneful as they’re trippy.
46: Camel
The unique Camel was constructed round two world-class soloists – guitarist Andy Latimer and the late keyboardist Peter Bardens – and was largely a springboard for his or her instrumental fireworks. Over time the band turned extra song-oriented, Bardens departed, and a rotating solid of gamers got here in, together with a handful of ex-Caravaners. The one fixed is Latimer, who at all times finds himself some worthy companions to spar with.
45: Kansas
Embraced by AOR radio and championed by Don Kirshner, Kansas are sometimes pegged because the industrial aspect of prog rock. And whereas there was lots of heartfelt music on their classic albums (a minimum of earlier than the unique lineup splintered in 1982), they at all times insisted that the singles success of “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind” have been accidents. Both manner, few prog bands made higher use of violin, or touches of rustic Americana.
44: Spock’s Beard
Reviving classic-model prog rock when it was principally out of favor, Spock’s Beard launched the abilities of Neal Morse, who’d go onto turn out to be one among prog’s most prolific and melodically creative composers (and, finally, the godfather of Christian-themed prog). The Morse lineup bowed out with its magnum opus, the double epic Snow, however later launched some worthy albums after he’d moved on.
43: Sky
What do you get when one of many world’s best classical guitarists decides to type a rock band? You get Sky, which joined the acclaimed John Williams with a lineup together with Curved Air’s keyboardist Francis Monkman, and the bassist (Herbie Flowers) who made Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” so indelible. Whereas many prog rockers dabbled in classical music, Sky was simply the alternative: Most of them knew classical in and out, so rock was thrilling new territory.
42: Babe Ruth
This early 70s band was distinctive in a number of methods: That they had a powerful frontwoman, they did prog rock with a powerful jazz/blues slant, and their first album cowl (First Base) marked the one time Roger Dean ever drew baseball gamers. Guitarist Alan Shacklock went onto turn out to be an 80s producer of be aware; he and singer Jenny Haan stay within the revived lineup.
41: Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM)
This long-running Italian band had a comparatively transient, however superb stint making English-language albums for ELP’s Manticore label. Over these 5 albums they steadily remodeled their light pastoral sound into one thing a lot more durable charging. Their US dwell album Cook dinner, largely recorded at a Central Park present with ELP, is among the extra explosive dwell prog rock albums you’ll ever hear.
40: Strawbs
English people rock overlapped with prog rock fairly a number of occasions, however Strawbs have been perched proper on the cusp, doing adventurous epics with roots in conventional balladry. Dave Cousins proved to be one of many extra dramatic singers in both style. The title monitor of their most celebrated album Hero & Heroine is among the few nice prog songs about habit, and options hovering Mellotron from Rick Wakeman’s eventual substitute within the band, John Hawken.
39: The Pineapple Thief
Led by singer/author Bruce Soord, this Somerset quartet is extra about introspective songwriting than instrumental fireworks, although they’ll stretch out when the temper requires it. At their finest, they keep it up the spirit of classic Police and Peter Gabriel, they usually’ve recently gotten a kick with the addition of King Crimson/Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison.
38: The Tangent
The Tangent is basically the brainchild of singer/keyboardist Andy Tillison, one of the crucial authentic lyricists in trendy prog rock. He’s had quite a few collaborators through the years together with a number of old-school prog luminaries. The 2020 album Auto Reconaissance sported two considerate epics, one a couple of New York journey and one taking over the British sociopolitical local weather.
37: Marillion
One of many few bands who saved the prog rock flag flying within the 80s and past, Marillion at all times saved their ears open (they’ve even coated Radiohead) and infrequently saved their lyrics topical, whereas staying true to the drama of classic prog. Some followers want the theatrical strategy of authentic singer Fish, others the classically British strategy of longtime frontman Steve Hogarth. Both manner, the band’s requirements have at all times remained excessive.
36: Huge Huge Prepare
In the event you like your prog rock to sound classically British with a powerful melodic contact, Huge Huge Prepare shall be your trendy band of selection. Till 2020 the band included longtime prog fanatic and ex-XTC guitarist Dave Gregory; the present drummer is Nick D’Virgilio of Spock’s Beard and Genesis fame. Sadly, an accident in late 2021 took the lifetime of David Longdon, one of the crucial emotive singers in trendy prog.
35: Hawkwind
Many prog rock bands developed out of psychedelia however Hawkwind by no means stopped being psychedelic. Although best-known for his or her free-form area excursions, additionally they had some memorable down-to-earth moments, just like the proto-punk single “Silver Machine” (sung by their then-bassist Lemmy) and 1977’s “Quark, Strangeness & Charm,” the place they flirted rewardingly with New Wave. Authentic member Dave Brock has saved the band aloft all these years.
34: UK
Arguably the final old-school prog rock band, UK had two distinct incarnations, each that includes the formidable staff of keyboardist Eddie Jobson and singer/bassist John Wetton. The primary lineup had drummer Invoice Bruford and guitarist Allan Holdsworth, who did their finest to steer the band towards jazz. Within the trio lineup with drummer Terry Bozzio, Jobson turned a full-fledged keyboard hero whereas Wetton developed the pop knowhow he’d convey to Asia.
33: Procol Harum
Prog rock isn’t often R&B-based, however Procol Harum are the good exception; most of its key members have been initially in a pure R&B band, the Paramounts. And their first traditional, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” discovered the lacking hyperlink between Otis Redding, Bach, and psychedelia. However they have been additionally pioneers in side-long suites, grand preparations, and philosophical lyrics – all three of which performed into their 1968 traditional, “In Held ‘Twas In I.” The majestic voice of the now-departed Gary Brooker rates as one of prog’s best.
32: The Flower Kings
Led by singer/guitarist Roine Stolt, this Swedish band has a few of the strongest compositions in trendy prog rock, typically main towards the romantic aspect however sustaining a barely eccentric, Zappa-esque contact of their preparations. They’re additionally remarkably prolific: Their late-2021 double album Islands was the primary notable prog album to cope with the pandemic, they usually delivered one other sturdy double album, By Royal Decree, simply six months later.
31: The Mars Volta
Coming from the unlikely supply of two former On the Drive-In members, the Mars Volta distilled a uniquely gonzoid, distinctly trendy imaginative and prescient of prog rock – dense with musical info, metallic edges, outlandish storylines, and a macabre humorousness. It sounds simply as jarring as King Crimson music sounded in 1969.
30: Caravan
One of many flagship Canterbury bands, Caravan gave themselves the headway to do pure pop in addition to lengthy improvisational tracks (and within the early days, a number of spoonfuls of whimsical British psychedelia). For a lot of followers, that first lineup that made Within the Land of Gray & Pink stays the last word. However the sole constant member Pye Hastings stays one among prog rock’s nice tunesmiths and the remainder of the lineup is at all times worthy; they’ve made a first-rate Caravan album (It’s None of Your Business) as just lately as 2022.
29: Dream Theater
The kings of prog rock metallic, Dream Theater, are the one band right here comprised of Berklee School of Music graduates. The band is so endowed with musical chops that they are often nearly exhausting. Happily, additionally they know the worth of an inexpensive thrill, whether or not it’s a mighty melodic theme or a gritty metallic riff. Authentic member Mike Portnoy’s drumming is completely jaw-dropping by itself.
28: Crack the Sky
This West Virginia band was briefly a crucial sensation with its 1975 debut, a novel mixture of difficult instrumental turns, quirky Zappa-esque humor, and mile-wide, radio-friendly hooks. Business success didn’t come, however they stayed on this idiosyncratic path for many years; as of 2022 the band nonetheless has the core of its authentic lineup.
27: Magma
Grand opera meets fusion meets area journey, with some reimagined church music thrown in – all in a language that the eccentric French band made up. Led by the good drummer Christian Vander, this band was prog rock at its most summary. In any case these years, nothing sounds fairly prefer it.
26: Focus
So far as the pop charts go, Focus is a one-hit marvel with “Hocus Pocus.” (In the event you dwell within the UK, you may also know “Sylvia.”) However the Dutch quartet has confirmed essentially the most sturdy of prog rock bands, reuniting in 2004 and staying true to their authentic mission of fusing jazz improvisation, classically-inspired composition, and rock vitality. Multi-instrumentalist Thijs van Leer stays on the helm, classic-era drummer Pierre van der Linden remains to be a propulsive drive, and the thrilling instrumental flights stay in place.
25: Tender Machine
Tender Machine’s albums fall into two classes: The primary and all of the others. That self-titled debut stays one of many nice British psych/prog albums, with singer/bassist Kevin Ayers and singer/drummer Robert Wyatt each lending a novel eccentricity. After Ayers left, the songs turned largely instrumental, and keyboardist Mike Ratledge realized his imaginative and prescient of Tender Machine as a horn-heavy, typically avant-garde jazz-rock band. Their third album stays a groundbreaker, a double LP with one music per aspect.
24: Be Bop Deluxe
Led by the flashy singer/guitarist Invoice Nelson, Be Bop Deluxe stood on the crossroads of prog rock and glam, combining creative preparations with a Bowie-derived sense of futuristic model. They discovered their very own groove by the point of their wonderful dwell album Dwell! Within the Air Age and its studio follow-up Drastic Plastic, one of many prog world’s most convincing responses to punk. Nelson stays unstoppable, his post-Be Bop Deluxe albums quantity effectively over 100.
23: Utopia
Initially an outlet for chief Todd Rundgren’s grander ambitions, Utopia created an unlikely fusion of pop melody and Mahavishnu-like instrumentals (and for a time, had Luther Vandross as a backup singer). When the traditional four-piece lineup got here into place, Rundgren had a band the place everybody could possibly be a frontman, and that might do the trickiest epics and the sweetest pop numbers to equally sturdy impact.
22: Echolyn
Whereas many trendy bands are drawn to the louder and excessive aspect of prog rock, Pennsylvania’s Echolyn are extra into the melodies and the hovering instrumental themes. Each have been put to particularly good use on their 2002 album mei, which explores quite a few emotional tones and interlocking tunes over a single, 45-minute piece.
21: Return to Endlessly
With the attainable exception of the equally cosmic Mahavisnhu Orchestra, no fusion band had a higher affect on prog rock and vice versa. And few prog collections are full with out Romantic Warrior. Credit score that partially to Chick Corea being the chief: You wished keyboard heroics, he had them to spare; and he was among the many first jazzmen to put money into synths. However RTF’s fantasy/sci-fi imagery additionally made them prog-friendly, as did the dazzling solos. Simply ask Sure, whose Relayer is firmly in Return To Endlessly’s debt.
20: Anglagard
Studio albums by this Swedish band have been few and much between: Almost 20 years handed between their second and third. However every one has been finely crafted and definitely worth the wait. Although they make use of occasional vocals, the band’s actual power is its intricate, classically-informed instrumentals, which hark again to Crimson’s prettier moments and Genesis’ extra dramatic ones.
19: Haken
Although this contemporary band attracts from metallic, they’re not prog-metal per se: Slightly, they specialise in grand, sweeping epics that convey all kinds of sounds into play. Their thematically linked pair of double CD’s, Vector and Virus, rank as one of many richest works by a prog rock band up to now decade.
18: Can
You may argue about whether or not Can have been actually prog rock (they certain don’t sound like anyone else on this record), however they have been undeniably progressive, discovering rhythmic and sonic prospects that may affect bands from everywhere in the map many years later. Although steeped within the avant-garde, Can is also danceable, particularly within the latter days after they had an honest-to-God disco hit, “I Want More” within the UK charts.
17: The Moody Blues
The Moodies might have misplaced a few of their prog rock cred after they shifted towards pop music within the 80s, however the albums followers name the “classic seven” (Days of Future Handed by to Seventh Sojourn) have been groundbreaking in each manner, with their steady circulate and embracing of spacey and non secular themes; to not point out Mike Pinder’s almost making Mellotron a family phrase.
16: Gong
There have been so many Gong’s, so which one are we speaking about? All of them, after all. Underneath Daevid Allen’s authentic management, they mixed hallucinogenic whimsy with prodigious instrumental chops. Following the transitional album Shamal (on which Mike Howlett, later a big-time producer, make his sole bow as a lead singer), drummer Pierre Moerlen remodeled Gong right into a percussion-based instrumental band, fusing rock and gamelan. Allen later returned and he stays Gong’s guiding gentle, even when he not walks the planet.
15: Le Orme
This longrunning Italian band embodies the complete historical past of prog rock, starting as an formidable, psych-tinged band within the late 60s. They have been absolutely into symphonic prog by 1974, at which era they made the landmark, sci-fi idea album Felona e Sorna, with lyrics by Peter Hammill (who briefly toured as their lead singer). Earlier than hitting a poppier part within the 80s, Le Orme made one other landmark with 1979’s Florian, arguably the primary absolutely acoustic prog album.
14: Mild Big
Now thought of one of many quintessential prog rock bands, Mild Big had comparatively little industrial success of their day. It wasn’t for lack of making an attempt: They cherished to be diabolically difficult, however additionally they cherished to be accessible and rock out (brothers Ray and Derek Shulman respectively turned profitable producers and A&R executives). On their finest moments, particularly the still-timely political idea album The Energy & the Glory, they bought it proper on each counts.
13: Jethro Tull
Prog rock was one among many phases Jethro Tull went by; they embraced it absolutely (and despatched it up only a bit) on the album-length epics Thick As a Brick and A Ardour Play. Ian Anderson has since delivered a variety of stylistic left turns, together with a folk-rock trilogy, a controversial synth-pop part, and a return to stripped-down blues rock. However the 2022 Tull album The Zealot Gene discovered their progginess welling up as soon as once more.
12: Opeth
Even of their demise metallic days, this Swedish band at all times flirted with prog rock, writing epic songs with and with out growls. However this actually blossomed on 2001’s Blackwater Park, a landmark album that introduced the 2 worlds collectively on equal footing; it was additionally their first collaboration with Steven Wilson who introduced the metallic affect again to Porcupine Tree. Although the depth remained, Opeth bought constantly proggier on all future albums.
11: Renaissance
It’s a wierd quirk of destiny that Renaissance, essentially the most ornate and classically-based of prog rock bands, started as a derivative of the blueswailing Yardbirds (although ex-Yardbird founders Keith Relf and Jim McCarty have been each gone by the point the band actually caught on). Renaissance is most related to frontwoman Annie Haslam, whose angelic tones turned the archetype for feminine singers in prog. Her hovering vocals on tracks like “Ashes Are Burning” have seldom been equaled.
10: Porcupine Tree
A lot as another band, Porcupine Tree introduced prog rock kicking and screaming into the fashionable period, incorporating alt-rock and thrash metallic, together with Steven Wilson’s distinctly moody songwriting. Arguably their best album, Worry of a Clean Planet, offers with modern-world angst in unflinching phrases, but its roots in traditional prog are nonetheless evident.
9: Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Arguably, ELP solely labored as a result of it was a supergroup. The flamboyant and prodigiously gifted keyboardist Keith Emerson would have overwhelmed most different bands. Fortunately, on this case, he had a world-class rhythm part in Lake and Palmer, and a heartthrob vocalist in Lake. They made a number of stabs at pop, however side-long epics like “Tarkus” and “Karn Evil 9” are their true legacy.
8: Transatlantic
Everybody in Transatlantic had a profile after they first appeared in 2000 – guitarist Roine Stolt from the Flower Kings, drummer Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater, bassist Pete Trewavas from Marillion, singer/keyboardist Neal Morse from Spock’s Beard. However all wound up doing their best work on this band, taking 70s prog rock as a place to begin however giving it a contemporary, and really private slant. They’ve additionally pulled off such conceptual masterstrokes as a CD (The Whirlwind) with one 77-minute music, and an album (The Absolute Universe) that exists in fully totally different 60- and 90-minute variations.
7: Pink Floyd
No person did extra with the concept-album medium than Pink Floyd: Their traditional stretch of albums, from Darkish Facet of the Moon to The Wall, have been large-scale epics that wanted to be skilled of their entirety. Floyd have been arguably at their finest when idea visionary Roger Waters and guitar hero David Gilmour have been on equal footing – but the psychedelic affect of founder Syd Barrett by no means disappeared.
6: Instrument
Arguably essentially the most profitable prog rock-inspired band of the previous 20 years, Instrument proves {that a} band with excessive musical ambitions can nonetheless make it within the trendy world. Armed with dense, multi-layered compositions and a darkish worldview, Instrument can even hook you in with their extra direct rocking moments. The latest Worry Inoculum has components of classic Floyd and Rush, but its theme of impending apocalypse (and a few hope for avoiding it) is as well timed because it will get.
5: Genesis
Genesis arguably had essentially the most fascinating profession path of all of them: In 1974 they have been a wildly imaginative, theatrically inclined prog rock band with a singer keen on clothes and fox masks, and treasured little likelihood of a giant hit. Ten years later, Genesis and its previous and current members (Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins) just about outlined the pop mainstream. However they by no means stopped writing epic songs, and Genesis remained stuffed with creativeness even at their most industrial.
4: Van der Graaf Generator
Fronted by the singular Peter Hammill, Van der Graaf Generator was at all times a band for deep thinkers: Their lyrics probed existential crises, or appeared into the darker corners of relationships. Musically they drew from uncooked rock and free jazz, sneaking in moments of melodic magnificence if you least anticipated them. No marvel they have been one of many few prog rock bands that 70s punks admired: John Lydon was famously a fan of Nadir’s Huge Probability, an official Hammill solo album that featured the complete band.
3: Rush
Rush began life as a hard-rock trio and when pushed, they’d nonetheless insist that’s what they have been. However they spent their full profession actively progressing, taking no matter sounds caught their fancy and doing it their very own manner, earlier than bowing out with arguably their most formidable idea album Clockwork Angels. Even after they turned a platinum band, there have been at all times extra instructions to attempt, extra sounds so as to add, and extra elaborate concert events to placed on.
2: Sure
For all of the twists and turns of their profession, Sure have remained synonymous with prog rock, and their traditional run of albums – from The Sure Album to Going for the One, give or take a number of – stay amongst its most superb moments. Few issues embody prog like Jon Anderson’s crystalline voice, Steve Howe’s fretboard mastery, or a caped Rick Wakeman within the midst of a blazing solo. The latter two weren’t current for the 90125 period, however it allowed them to have an sudden second act as a complicated pop band.
1: King Crimson
Robert Fripp’s brainchild by no means had a everlasting lineup or sound, and he was by no means enamored of the time period prog rock. Nonetheless, no band has extra constantly embodied prog’s exploratory spirit. From the jarring blast of “21st Century Schizoid Man” in 1969, Crimson’s profession is filled with reinventions. The orchestrated clatter of Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, the streamlined 80s Crimson, the dizzying double trio, and the grunge-inspired 90s mannequin all have their devotees. The latest, a three-drummer lineup, discovered them blazing as brightly as ever. If that is actually the tip, as Fripp has hinted, they went out with out ever making a false transfer.
On the lookout for extra? Try our record of the most effective prog rock albums ever.
