That moment. When you find a prog album you love.

Nice thread. The ones that stick out for me are:

Strangely, for me the very first 3 albums to have that "love at first playing" effect were Rick Wakeman's "King Arthur" ,Yes "Tormato", Jethro Tull "Passion Play"  it totally changed my path of musical taste ( from the ELO and Status Quo ). Obviously once i'd heard the other greater albums by these artists they were eclipsed, but it was those first 3 that did it and still hold an affection

Being also a rather old fart I had that feeling with quite many of the classics, Foxtrot, Selling England, ITCOTKC, Tarkus, The Lamb, Fragile, CTTE, Tubullar Bells, A Night At The Opera and so many others, but I stayed also quite open in the 80's and 90's and also loved immediately every Rush album which was coming out at the time, all from Fish era Marillion (indeed I loved Misplaced Childhood and I still think it can be a great introduction to prog) etc.

Choirs of the Eye blew me away more than any other album ever the first time I heard it.

Originally posted by Triceratopsoil Choirs of the Eye blew me away more than any other album ever the first time I heard it.

A couple of years ago, the Decemberists' album "The Hazards of Love" knocked me out on first listen.  It was actually on in the car, with my family there, so it was playing quietly, but even then, I could tell something special was going on.  It wasn't all that new or original sounding, but I don't think it was supposed to be.  It was a tribute of sorts to the idea of a rock opera/concept album.  They used every trick in the book that makes great rock operas work, and executed them perfectly.  Just an astonishing piece of craft in that style - great themes, reprises of said themes, and a generous handful of really great tunes that could stand on their own just fine but sound even better within the album.   It rocked more than I expected, too.

Edited by HolyMoly - March 16 2012 at 21:04

"Islands" by King Crimson for me. It had everything for me the first time I heard it. Another album that blew me away on first listen was "666" by Aphrodite's Child. Just dynamic and emotionally charged music that kept me in one spot for the entire thing.

I fell in love with Part the Second.

THE moment came for me during one evening at my uncle's house in 1972 or '73.  My mom used to sell Empress Pearls, which were organized in the same manner as Tupperware parties.  The agent (in this case Mom) would orgnize a party, ladies would come, along with the occasional husband, and buy one or more oysters from a tank.  Each oyster was guaranteed a pearl inside, but you never really knew what color or the quality.  I can't say Mom made much money from it, but I think she had fun.  All of my cousins were gone, nor did my brother and sister come along.  I was the only kid in the house, 12 or 13 years old.  Out of my siblings and cousins, I was the youngest.  I found myself upstairs with my cousins' record collection.  Most of the artists I recognized from the radio, but I had never heard an entire album by any of them.  There were three that stood out, and I played each at least twice that evening.  None of them were strictly Prog, but you can understand their impact.  They were Made in Japan by Deep Purple, especially Blackmore's playing, Aqualung by Jethro Tull, and Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly (I only played the title track more than once since the other side was simply meh).  Blew my mind.  This  night was key in interesting me in listening to music beyond simply what was on the radio.  Most of the albums that really hit me on first listen I heard during my teens and twenties.  They include:

Recently had this with Genesis - Trespass