The Prog Archives Starter Kit

Thanks

Anglagard- Hybris

Barclay James Harvest- Live

Can- Future Days

Camel- Mirage

Eloy- Ocean

Family- Music from a doll's house

Genesis- Foxtrot

Harper, Roy- HQ

Holderlin- Traumstadt Live

IQ- Tales from the Lush Attic

Jethro Tull- Songs from the Wood

King Crimson- Larks Tongue in Aspic

Mona Lisa- Avant qu'il ne soit trop tard

Magma- Mekanïk Destruktïẁ Kommandöh

Oldfield, Mike- Ommadawn

Ozric Tentacles- Spice Doubt

PFM- Per un Amico

Rundgren, Todd- A Wizard, a true star

Strawbs, the - From the Witchwood

Twelfth Night- Fact and Fiction

Univers Zero- 1313

Van der graaf generator- Godbluff

Wobbler- From Silence to Somewhere

XTC- English Settlement

Yes- The Yes album

Zappa, Frank- One size fits all

Sorry, i think thats probably more than allowed but i'd dump those lps in the lap of anyone interested and say 'work your way through that lot'.. it might be a bit of a 'kill or cure' moment

Then force them to listen to KC's "moonchild" on a loop for the next eight hours. 

I don't think I ever had anything resembling a starter kit myself. Or maybe I did. Pink Floyd was in my parents record collection, so they were just always there. Differnt friends introduced me to The Residents, Swans, Dead Can Dance around the same time + someone brought a C60 containing the studio sides of Living in the Past on a school bus trip. Needless to say I did not connect the dots. It was just different kinds of interesing music that sounded all new and exiting to me. At the same time I used the music section in the library almost daily, and I borrowed and copied things I had heard about - and not heard about. Everything from Nursery Cryme and In Search of the Lost Chord to Steve Reich, Gamelan Music, Eastern European Folk, Medieval and Renaissance music... And at my local record shop I could easily find and buy used LP's of Kraftwerk, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Tangerine Dream etc. for next to nothing. So I did. It did not take long before I understood that a handful of these finds were considered Prog Rock - a ridiculous anachronism from the 1970's that thankfully punk had killed off. But I still loved it, and failed to understand what was wrong about skills and ambition. "Three chords and the truth" had never appealed to me anyway.

1. Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd: Cliche pick I know but can you blame me for picking this. Pink Floyd is one of the most accessible prog rock bands ever, and Dark Side is like one of those albums that can introduce someone to prog pretty smoothly. I also think it is a great introduction as it can introduce someone to these conceptual albums, and its suite-like nature can smoothly allow someone to get accustomed to the longer songs prog rock employs. 

2. Nursery Cryme - Genesis: Most people would choose Selling England By The Pound as the Genesis record for new prog fans, and while that album is amazing, I think Nursery Cryme fits this beginner prog boat a lot more, simply due to the fact I feel like it can really get people into this more pastoral--symphonic prog sound, and with The Musical Box, it can also showcase the longer stretches of music, which is a very big constant in progressive rock in general. Plus it is pretty short, just under 40 minutes. I would've chosen Trick Of The Tail instead but I am more of a Gabriel head than a Collins head so my biases got the better of me.

3. The Yes Album - Yes: I think The Yes Album, compared to many of Yes' endeavors in the 70s with their long epics and suites, is a lot more accessibly streamlined and prominent to me. I would've gone for Fragile instead, but I think Fragile has a lot of these weird moments that could become a turn off to anyone looking to get into prog that The Yes Album doesn't quite have.

4. Misplaced Childhood - Marillion: I think Misplaced Childhood kinda fits the same shoes as Dark Side with it being a more conceptual album with a suite-like structure to it, but the reason I chose it here is for the pop fans out there. I mean, while this may not be the most poppy album out there with tracks like Blind Curve and Bitter Suite, I think for what it is worth it does contain some of the band's most lovable pop hits like Kayleigh and Lavender, which I think can really help those pop-heads who are looking to get into prog to get into it smoothly.

5. In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth 3 - Coheed and Cambria: I think modern prog deserves some love in the grand scheme of things, so this next half is more modern stuff, starting with In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth 3. Where Misplaced Childhood is for the pop-heads, Silent Earth 3 is for those alt rock and emo kids who find some interest in progressive rock. I think Coheed and Cambria is a perfect band for this as their music is very clearly alt and emo rock, but they have many proggy songs, especially on here, that make them perfect for those who are into stuff like My Chemical Romance and or Paramore.

6. Images and Words - Dream Theater: When talking about prog, you kinda have to talk about Dream Theater at least once. For this starter kit I decided to choose Images and Words, for the fact that it is a great introduction piece for those to get into prog metal, and more over prog rock.

7. Let's Start Here. - Lil Yachty: Now you might ask, why an album made by a hip hop artist? Well, I think with the psych rock and space rock frontiers Lil Yachty composes here that takes clear inspiration from Pink Floyd and many other psych/space rock bands (You can hear it on The Black Seminole), I feel like this album can be great to showcase prog rock, or in fact, reinvigorate prog to the masses, and in fact, I actually consider this album to be a prog album. I feel like this record, plus Coldplay's Coloratura and Taylor Swift's 10 minute version of All Too Well can be a spark in the waters for a new wave of prog rock popularity, more than the world has ever seen in this modern age, and so that is why I am adding it to this starter kit, for its great music, and the hope it can introduce many new and young music fans to seek out more of this type of music.

8. Polygondwanaland - King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard: I feel like I could add any King Gizz release here, but I am choosing Polygondwanaland since it is the most overtly prog rock release. I think what makes this album good for beginners is actually the shorter songs on here. Sure the 10 minute Crumbling Castle is here, but most of the album is relatively short, with songs 2-3 minutes in length, and I think that can allow people to easily get into progressive rock without having to worry about long lengths. In fact I'd say this, Dark Side, and Misplaced Childhood are like the perfect prog albums for beginners in the genre.

Now I would add more but I want this starter kit to be relatively small.

1. Curved Air - Vivaldi - 14:04

2. Caravan - For Richard - 13:04

3. Barclay James Harvest - Mockingbird - 7:26

4. Rick Wakeman - Journey to the Centre of the Earth - 18:22

5. Family - The Weaver's Answer - 4:48

6. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Take a Pebble - 6:42

7. John Wetton - Red - 6:26

1. Barclay James Harvest - Poor Man's Moody Blues - 7:10

2. John Wetton - Starless - 9:46

3. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Barbarian - 5:06

4. Focus - House of the King - 2:41

5. Van der Graaf Generator - Theme One - 4:03

6. Focus - Hocus Pocus Medley - 13:31

7. Karnataka - Heaven Can Wait - 4:50

8. Mostly Autumn - Mother Nature - 13:13

9. Nektar - Damnation Valley - 9:00