What is next?

danbo wrote: I'd say Jed has a good start. In a few years, you may have 0.000175 of Dick Heath's collection.

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Where's Dick Heath when you need him [/quote]

Sorry I was in dark corner practicing being simultaneously pretentious and eclectic whilst listening to Anekdoten's Vermod, (with the bass level set at max on the discman) - and the bloody day job keeps interferring with more important matters.............. Also going through recordings which have come my way this year to compile a 3 hour radio show of the best (IMHO) of 2004 - it's on tonight.

Contrary to Danbo's suggestion (........I wish....), of the original list at the top of the thread I have to admit either I haven't got or even heard the following:

 Pain of Salvation, Angra,   Nightwish, Within Temptation, Digital Ruin, Shadow Gallery, Pendragon, RPWL, Arena, Ayreon, , Devin Townsend, Mezarkabul,  Opeth, Trent Gardner, Conception, Vanden Plas,  Vanishing Point, Conception,  Dali's Dilemma, Dreamscape, Pagan's Mind, Empty Tremor,  Frameshift, Green Carnation, Conspiracy,  Shaman, Evergrey, Meshuggah, Wolverine, Event, Zen,  Mind Odyssey, Ice Age, Ion Vein, Ivory Tower, Lemur Voice, Sun Caged, Superior, Madsword,  Orphanage, Silent Force, Proto ~ Kaw, Seventh Key, TOC, Mullmuzzler,Magellan,  NDV, Brainstorm, Ryo Okumoto,  Ritual, Jughead, Kaipa, Magnitude 9, Star One, Elegy, Jim Matheos, Savatage, Dead Soul Tribe, Geoff Tate, Into Eternity,  Ivory Towner, Ray Wilson, and Prymary.

but I'm slowly working on it - and one of the pleasures of Prog Archives is to learn more. Although there are several bands listed, with whom  I have real problems understanding why they are considered prog - e.g.  Satriani , Kings X. This reflects that prog increasing is all things to all men (and some women) at least on this forum. Just waiting for somebody to propose the Bay City Rollers..................

With such a breadth of music, I would suggest going to the dim distant past to get an understanding of prog's evolution, so check proto-prog bands e.g. Vanilla Fudge, even Electric Prunes (e.g. Mass), Tomorrow. Then the early American prog bands too often ignored and forgotten, e.g.  Touch and United States Of America. Get the first recordings (if not in your collection already) by Krimson and Renaissance (and take my word for it), consider how radically different and new these records where when they were released in 1969. For prog evolving, one of the best examples on record is Soft Machine: BBC 1967 to 1971 and BBC 1971 to 1974. Check the first two Yes albums Yes and Time & The Word, and consider whether they were playing fairly sophisticated rock or early prog rock. Find the rock operas: SF Sorrow (Pretty Things), Tommy & Quadraphenia (Who), Village Preservation Society (Kinks), Teen Opera (Keith West - formerly of Tomorrow), and the original studio recording of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Finally, mentioned elsewhere (and especially if you can get them cheap) two 3 CD box sets of mostly underground and progressive music from 1966 to 1975:

Legend Of A Mind (Decca records)

All Good Clean Fun: The Liberty & UA Years (EMI Records)

And try come back for recommendations in krautrock.

Finally anybody mentioned Todd Rundgren's Initiation and Utopia albums?