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Topic Closed8 Best Prog Albums of All Time

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mechanicalflattery View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2016 at 15:12
Can't believe I forgot Atom Heart Mother and Ommadawn, although I don't really consider the latter to be prog rock (same for krautrock, psychedelia, jazz fusion etc).

Also I'd have no problem with someone attempting to argue for Metal Machine Music being a great album. It's certainly a progressive one (obviously not prog).
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2016 at 14:22
Yes - Close To The Edge
Magma - Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandöh
King Crimson - Larks Tongues In Aspic
Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Jethro Tull - A Passion Play
Hatfield And The North - I
National Health - Of Queues And Cures
Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico

Very difficult task ...


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2016 at 11:38
Echolyn....Mei
PFM......Stati di.......
Gentle Giant.......The Power.....
King Crimson.....Red
Porcupine Tree.....In Absentia
Moody Blues.....Days of 
Dun......Eros
Pink Floyd.....Animals
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2016 at 11:31
Originally posted by Magnum Vaeltaja Magnum Vaeltaja wrote:

Originally posted by zravkapt zravkapt wrote:

Love Beach
We Can't Dance
A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Under Wraps
Vapor Trails
Cruisin' With Reuben & The Jets
Open Your Eyes
Metal Machine Music


Come on, how could you not include any Asia in there? Or ABBA?

Abba? Most progressive act ever! Well, except for John Denver
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2016 at 11:23
Today's list:
Banda do Casaco - Hoje Há Conquilhas Amanhã Não Sabemos
Camel - Mirage
King Crimson - Lizard
Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
PFM - Per Un Amico
Quarteto 1111 - Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê Cantamos Pessoas Vivas
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2016 at 11:13
Originally posted by zravkapt zravkapt wrote:

Love Beach - ok
We Can't Dance - good
A Momentary Lapse Of Reason - good
Under Wraps - poor
Vapor Trails - ok
Cruisin' With Reuben & The Jets - dunno
Open Your Eyes - poor
Metal Machine Music - dreadful


Edited by Cristi - October 18 2016 at 11:15
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2016 at 11:09
Originally posted by zravkapt zravkapt wrote:

Love Beach
We Can't Dance
A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Under Wraps
Vapor Trails
Cruisin' With Reuben & The Jets
Open Your Eyes
Metal Machine Music


Come on, how could you not include any Asia in there? Or ABBA?
when i was a kid a doller was worth ten dollers - now a doller couldnt even buy you fifty cents
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2016 at 06:21
Love Beach
We Can't Dance
A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Under Wraps
Vapor Trails
Cruisin' With Reuben & The Jets
Open Your Eyes
Metal Machine Music
Magma America Great Make Again
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2016 at 05:22
Triumvirat-Illusions On A Double Dimple
Triumvirat-Spartacus
Triumvirat-Mediterranean Tales
Dzyan-Time Machine
Libra-Libra
Giger Lenz Marron-Beyond
Wallenstein-No More Love
Dzyan-Electric Silence

some of these are pretty obscure, but that's me, I guess
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 18 2016 at 05:12
It is a reasonable list for anyone new to the genre and includes some more left-field prog such as Zappa and Can.  I know we can all disagree on such lists, but the only surprise omission is an ELP album.  Not only did they shape and provide inspiration to the genre, along with the Floyd and Yes, they were actually one of the biggest (rock, not just prog) groups in terms of album sales and concert attractions - at least in the early 70s.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 14 2016 at 23:39
^ I'd agree with you on 5 of those. Not bad for 30 seconds, actually.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 14 2016 at 23:29
Oh please, you people are all wrong, only I can have the true best prog list!*

1. Godbluff
2. Storia di un Minuto
3. Lizard
4. Octopus
5. Pawn Hearts
6. Darwin!
7. Close to the Edge
8. Caravanserai

Bow before my will, inferior mortals

*(list created in roughly 30 seconds with little critical thought put into it, likely gravely wrong as a result)


Edited by mechanicalflattery - October 14 2016 at 23:33
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 14 2016 at 23:00
It seems that everyone else is just listing what they think the list should be, so I may as well give it a try. In no particular order, sticking to one per artist:
  • Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans - Obviously Close To The Edge is the safer choice, and gels together more cohesively, but this one has unparalleled historical value, rallying point both for and against the genre. But looking past its megalithic status, this is also one of the finest and multifaceted albums Yes put out, regardless of how much "padding" you may allege it to contain. Here we have some of Yes' most powerful, bombastic sections of music, their most calm and meditative, most happy and uplifting, most fiery and aggressive, all spread out among a sea of music that you can immerse yourself in for days without tiring. 
  • King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic - One could argue that Court was a more influential album, but the fact that after five albums in three years King Crimson was still changing directions and moving into uncharted territory with every new release is an accomplishment in itself. What we have here is a more confident, refined group; no doubt the strongest and most creative line-up Fripp ever associated himself with. And if there was ever to be an album described as "ahead of its time", here's the one. Not only has Larks' gone on to influence countless groups in the realms of prog, avant-garde, and metal, it's also impeccably produced, holding up against modern releases much better than the increasingly dated-sounding Court.
  • Genesis - Selling England By The Pound - You could make a case for any of the albums between Trespass and The Lamb to take this spot, but none of the others have matched Selling England in sheer influential magnitude. No other album has been a direct influence on such a large volume of prog rock. Listen to 99.999% of neo-prog or comparable amounts of modern symphonic prog, and you'll hear it drenched with inspiration from Selling England By The Pound. This album isn't necessarily the best in the Genesis catalogue, but the fact that so many bands, even 40 years later, are still citing it as the golden standard to approaching the genre from a compositional point of view, puts it just that much higher above the others.
  • PFM - Storia Di Un Minuto - Perhaps the most representative RPI record. It has everything that makes many prog fans' favourite national scene so lovable: the romance of Impressioni Di Settembre, the blues rock approach to E Festa, the classical influences of Dove...Quando...Pt. 1, the jazzy leanings of Dove...Quando...Pt. 2, the delicate-yet-intricate performance in La Carrozza Di Hans, and the over-the-top dramatics of Grazie Davvero, all in one tight little bundle.
  • Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Emerson, Lake & Palmer - This was one of the records that truly asserted that keyboards had a place in rock music. Here we have some of the most aggressive, virtuosic, and intense keyboard passages put to record during prog's embryonic stages, no doubt a major influence on countless guitar-less trios around the world, all while containing some of ELP's most tasteful, well-aged material.
  • Van der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts - Prog is a genre of extremes, and at the dark, grotesque pole of the genre, you get this. Difficult as it may be to the unconditioned ear, this is a crucial record that showed the world that progressive rock didn't need to be about elves and magic, it could have a grittier, more human face to it, as well.
  • Gentle Giant - Octopus - Gentle Giant took complexity as far as it went, and this is the album that best showcases their combination of extreme complexity while still retaining strong taste and musicality in their performances, as well as their uncanny ability to pack a whole lot into such a small package.
  • [Insert your favourite prog album I didn't list here] - So that you can read this and say "at least he got ONE of them right!". I don't want to go making my readers unhappy, now, do I? Embarrassed
Sorry for the lack of representation for certain subgenres, like prog metal, krautrock, zeuhl, psychedelic, prog electronic, Canterbury, etc. When I made my selections, I did my best to encompass broad genre representation and widespread influence, as well as a little look at the extremes that prog can fill. As a result, I tended to ignore many of the more niche subgenres, as well as less traditionally "proggy" genres (fusion, psychedelic, etc.). 
when i was a kid a doller was worth ten dollers - now a doller couldnt even buy you fifty cents
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 14 2016 at 17:40
1) Foxtrot - Genesis
2) Nursery Cryme - Genesis
3) Hybris - Anglagard
4) Illusions on a Double Dimple - Triumvirat
5) Relayer - Yes
6) Leftoverture - Kansas
7) Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull
8) K.A. - Magma
9) Darwin - Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
10) Voyage of the Acolyte - Steve Hackett

            
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 14 2016 at 17:31
1) The Snow Goose
2) Subterranea
3) Spirit of Autumn Past
4) The Tain
5) Second Life Syndrome
6) The Mountain
7) Folklore
8) Argus
9) Moonmadness
10) Seasons End

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 14 2016 at 04:07
^ LOL
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 14 2016 at 03:52
Perhaps if we learned to read we would find it says "8 of the best" not the best 8.

Fine starter kit anyway.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 13 2016 at 10:15
I'd replace Zappa with Amon Duul 2.  YETI, LEMMINGS or VIVE LA TRANCE.  MEDDLE would replace WISH YOU WERE HERE.  TOPOGRAPHIC would replace FRAGILE.  And yes, Eight is NOT Enough.  Banco, PFM, Ange and Magma deserve being there.  A PASSION PLAY is my favourite, as well as RED, or LARKS' TONGUES.  The Can choice is correct.  When it comes to Lists, Franz is my favourite.  Smile

Edited by Guy Guden - October 13 2016 at 10:22
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 13 2016 at 09:50
Originally posted by Passka Passka wrote:

Originally posted by CPicard CPicard wrote:

Originally posted by The Dark Elf The Dark Elf wrote:

Why eight?


Too lazy or not enough time/place to make it ten? Ermm
Anyway, that's just another list and people in 2016 should be tired with that Top 10, Top 20, Top 6 or whatever kind of list that may exist under our sun - especially if said list is as lame as this one.
Furthermore, I can't even see the point of making another list of best prog albums: it's flogging the dried bones of a dead horse.


maybe they want to look more 'progressive'Wink


I am fairly certain that the list is "inspired" by BBC 4's Desert Island Discs show, where the guest or indeed cast-away is asked to chose 8 albums to bring with them on a deserted island (hence the title).

As for the list? It's a list alright
Nah cool to see Can mentioned for once, but we'll never ever hit the proverbial sweet spot and conjure up a list that satisfies every pork rock fan out there. Some like it hot - others like it cold. I am a chilli man myself.



Edited by Guldbamsen - October 13 2016 at 09:51
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 13 2016 at 07:48
The Real Top Eight

1) Tales From Topographic Oceans
2) The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
3) Thick As A Brick
4) Close To The Edge
5) Brain Salad Surgery
6) Foxtrot
7) Wish You Were Here
8) Larks' Tongues In Aspic
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