The 80s..the worst era for prog.

Exhibit No. 1:

Three of a perfect pair was released in the 80's.

Discipline came out in the 80s.  These also came out in the 80s:

Cardiacs - A Little Man and a House..., On Land and In the Sea, The Seaside
Dun - Eros
Eskaton - 4 Visions
Univers Zero - Uzed, Heatwave, Ceux Du Dehors
Zamla Mammaz Manna - Familjesprickor
Picchio dal Pozzo - Abbiamo Tutti I Suoi Problemi
Naked City - s/t
Art Zoyd - Symphonie Pour Le..., Berlin, Generaton Sans Futur, Le Mariage du Ciel et de L'Enfer, Phase IV, NOsferatu, Les Espaces INquiets
This Heat - Deceit
Miriodor - Rencontres
Present - Triskaidekaphobie, Le Poison Qui Rend Fou
Eider Stellaire - debut
Shub-Niggurath - Les Morts Vont Vite
Etron fou Leloublan - Les Poumons Gonfles, Face Aux Elements Dechaines, Les Sillons De La Terre,
Captain Beefheart - Doc at the Radar Station, Ice Cream for Crow
Fred Frith - Gravity
Thinking Plague - In This Life
Zappa - The Perfect Stranger

Probably more I can't think of, too.  Not a bad decade at all, in my opinion.

Looking back one can easily see the 80s was the Metal head era. So many metal bands came up through the ranks namely Metallica, Venom, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus, Iron Maiden and Anthrax among others.

Edited by AtomicCrimsonRush - May 30 2012 at 03:34

Some of my favorite prog albums came from the 80's (of course, the best was from the 70's) as well as some of my favorite non-prog (non-prog has really gone downhill since the 80's).  But yes, there was a lull there in the 80's for prog.  Anyway, some of my favorites from the 80's:

Fact & Fiction from Twelfth Night
Clutching at Straws and Script for a Jester's Tear (as well as the Market Square Heroes single) from Marillion
Duke from Genesis
Drama (and yes, I'm about to say it) 90125 from Yes
Tales from the Lush Attic from IQ
Nude from Camel
Long Distance Voyager from the Moody Blues

From what I've listened to so far the 80s was a mixed bag for prog, at least when it came to the old guard. King Crimson and Rush managed to successfully incorporate the sounds of the era into their music. Also, I like what Peter Gabriel did with So, and, right now, I'm listening to Eye In The Sky by The Alan Parson's Project. I wasn't too fond of Yes' 90125 (though I remember liking Drama), and I found Jethro Tull's The Broadsword And The Beast to be kind of lame.

I want to check out Iron Maiden one of these days.  I've heard some good things about their work.

I can't believe I seem to be the only one who does not think Heavy Metal is prog. Nor is Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, or Frank Zappa for that matter. And the 80s has absolutely NOTHING to do with prog rock AT ALL. There are a few bands who didn't realize the end had come and for the first few years of the 80s still made a few records the way they used to in the (only) true prog era of the SEVENTIES, like Rush (Moving Pictures and, marginally, Signals), Yes (Drama, but NOT 90210), Genesis (Duke but nothing else), and so forth. But to call Jethro Tull prog in the 80s is just plain silly. Or Queensryche, Alan Parsons, Camel, etc. They all abandoned prog and tried to be 80s. I will agree that Marillion is still jarringly prog in this otherwise entirely un-prog era, but they are the exception. Prog was a 70s phenomenon altogether, say I.

Originally posted by bignoze I can't believe I seem to be the only one who does not think Heavy Metal is prog. Nor is Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, or Frank Zappa for that matter. And the 80s has absolutely NOTHING to do with prog rock AT ALL. There are a few bands who didn't realize the end had come and for the first few years of the 80s still made a few records the way they used to in the (only) true prog era of the SEVENTIES, like Rush (Moving Pictures and, marginally, Signals), Yes (Drama, but NOT 90210), Genesis (Duke but nothing else), and so forth. But to call Jethro Tull prog in the 80s is just plain silly. Or Queensryche, Alan Parsons, Camel, etc. They all abandoned prog and tried to be 80s. I will agree that Marillion is still jarringly prog in this otherwise entirely un-prog era, but they are the exception. Prog was a 70s phenomenon altogether, say I.

Originally posted by Conor Fynes I think the 1940's were the worst time for progressive rock.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not debating the quality of the music these people made in the 80s. I like Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush and those 80s Camel records, but just because people were ONCE making prog music doesn't mean everything they did was prog. I suppose it is a question of definition, and maybe there is no universal one, so it is a useless debate. But to me nearly none of that 80s music is prog at all. I cannot believe anyone would describe Abacab as prog in any way, or Shock the Monkey, or Camel's Nude, or Broadsword and the Beast. They just are not prog. Not bad, but not prog rock, at least as far as my definition goes. Some of the above postings by Guldbamsen are quite interesting examples of avant-garde / experimental / art music, but I still don't hear them as "prog". I am not saying the music is bad. It is just a different genre. "Weirdness" and "lots of changes" does not, to me, constitute prog. Nor does the fact that there are real prog records in one's back-catalog. Is there no one who agrees with me?