Light Prog

10cc are big fun. I don't care much about the others.

To sum up my views on all four bands:

I love all four bands. I probably appreciate ELO's early, more proggy work (e.g. El Dorado) less than I do APP's. ELO's latter-day proggy album "Time" is probably better overall than any individual album the four bands here put out. For their pop albums I'm probably fan #1 of their poorly received "Balance of Power." APP's albums are all consistently very good or great, but I tend to often go for individual tracks. Asia has two album's I value, the debut and Astra. I think Astra is underrated. 2008's Phoenix is very good and their most proggy album.  I like an album by Payne era Asia called "Aria." 10cc has a lot of great to phenomenal individual tracks, but I don't really like any of their albums all that much. Sometimes they sound a bit contrived and repetitive, and trying too hard to be funny or clever. Nonetheless they probably have the biggest high points of any of these bands. There is a truly amazing Eric Stewart solo album from 2009 called "Viva La Difference" that I wish all 10cc albums were like. 

10cc

I like all of them to some extent, but 10cc are my favourites. Sheet Music is one of the all-time classics.

I'd have to go with ELO mostly for their first three albums, with APP a close second. It's nice to see that both Alan Parsons and Jeff Lynne are still performing live and still playing some of their early stuff (like The Raven and 10538 Overture).

Kingsnake wrote: If the poll would've included Barclay James Harvest, they would've gotten my vote. The most symphonic band of the softer bands, in my opinion.

Same for me, they really rulled in that particular niche.

^^ Exactly that.

Edited by Kingsnake - April 09 2018 at 05:36

APP

ELO by far, followed by APP. Asia is a disaster imo

You're safe here, curiously, the singer has excellent pronunciation (as much as I can be a judge on this matter, mind you, myself being portuguese)
If you can, try to listen to the tracks in their original sequence (the 2005 compilation even went to the extreme of splitting a single track on separate discs ????) and choose studio not live versions.