prog-ish albums by "non prog bands" you like

Hi,

I'm not comfortable mentioning a lot of things ... for me, many of them were expressive, strong, and did some far out things for a long time, and mentioning them ... is crazy.

But there are a couple of really special groups/players for me ...

Family/Streetwalkers/Chappo ... is very special. Trying to define this band as "progressive" may be a bit tougher, but Chappo's ability to carry a song, is too good, and it raises the level of the band quite a bit ... not to mention that the guitar work in all of these is truly special!

The Edgar Broughton Band is really special, even though some folks only seem to know their one famous song for the open air concerts against the war, but the album that really took me away ... OORA ... really special.

Though not considered "progressive" MAN deserved some appreciation, and at the end of it all, reading Deke Leonard's book (Man on the Road to Nowhere) ... is so sad, but you gotta give it to them ... they continued as much as possible. And there were, along the way, some neat things ... hearing Mickie yodel against a male choir is just superlative and amazing ... but we are too concerned with some "progressive" ideas, that prevent a player from doing something that is above and beyond everyone's abilities and touch ... that live version of C'MON is historical in my book.

I thought Seventh Wave deserved more, and the first album is astounding and insane, if you have a strong sound system ... I doubt that you can get the effect on earphones, unless they are studio quality at the very least, which most of us won't have as they are not cheap!

Robin Williamson/Incredible String Band, probably deserves a nice placement and a pat on the back .. he doesn't sit on his butt and not create something new, or find a new way to have fun with the lyrics and get a giggle from them by acting them out weirdly and funny ... but, we forget that Robin is nuts and funny ... and he show cased it on an interview with Guy Guden, that was fantastic and not only had history, but also some nifty surprises. Not many here seem to relate to the "poetry" being put to music (Jim Morrison did it!), and tried to make it work, but by the time we hear Earth Span, that is so progressive and neat, as to leave us ... scratching our heads ... that's folk? Yep, and then some, but not the way we think! It's about the artist and how he/she relates, and the work on this album makes it one my my top ten albums EVER if I ever made a list!

I always thought of Roy Harper as "progressive", and really with it ... and he makes perfect sense, and his words are not crap, or the kind of stuff that ends up on radio as a hit, and is mediocre at best.

The Groundhogs ... with the very special guitarist Toni McPhee ... Crosscut Saw is fabulous, and very strong and it loves being played LOUD ... on the best sound system you can find, and their next album, is just as important ... Black Diamond also fits, and by the time you play Live Right out loud ... you can tell half the "progressive" listings to take a flying dive into the ocean. You don't mix lyrics and sound, so beautifully like that ... and it's not a moment if let's believe ... it's real! A wonderful player and then some.

Carmen. In three albums, a band from LA, showed us what Spain had not figured out could be done with a Spanish Guitar and music ... that was massively progressive, but sadly, probably too weird to be appreciated ... no progressive rock fan would pay to go watch a band that plays spanish guitar and is very adventurous and expressive! They will spend their money on some guy that is only going to buy another cape tomorrow, because his music is not a good or colorful as the cape is!

There are many others, but I will leave it here for now ... as I said, if I started a list I'll probably strangle myself before being done ... there's way too much stuff that is far out ... and in my book, they are not the usual suspects and well known bands that had "hits" that got folk's attention ... those I left behind because there was better stuff out there ... and that's not saying that they were not good or great ... just that there are people out there around the world that also had the talent but will never get your ears ... a real shame in my book!

Edited by moshkito - May 19 2025 at 16:40

MikeEnRegalia wrote: The last three Ghost releases are prog-adjacent in my opinion. Just barely, but still ... especially Prequelle is really well constructed. I don't think there is any intention on their part to be seen as "prog", but it emerges from the way Tobias writes the music.

Completely agree - Prequelle is a “proggish” masterpiece!😎

I really recomend this fast-made organ-driven bleusy prog rock album :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZfMXB6ywMs&list=PL2cSXRDnzx-114orCVSk_LfR48CWFL--k&ab_channel=QuebecRock

It was done in one week I guess in the Oratoire Saint-Joseph, enormous church at the edge of Mont-Royal mountain and it hard rockin naturally with a fast-made symphonic prog approach.

There is also a movie on this show.