I play this and the second one from time to time.

This is the beginning: 

Psychedelic coincidence? Not sure what you mean.It is an example of a psych album that took elements of what later became known as prog. How's that? Or how about just proto prog(much of which had psych elements anyway).

Yeah, only Tommy was released in 69 not 68. The Who actually had a rock opera before Tommy called A quick one while he's a way. Also, the Pretty Things released an album some call early prog(also considered a rock opera)called S.F. Sorrow in 1968. 

 

(mich more so than Bee Gees, IMHO)

I like ANYWAY a lot more and find this period (which had John Wetton in his early days) not as exciting for me, and then the last 3 albums being totally exciting and far out, and that Guy in Santa Barbara wore out all of these albums senseless, because they were/are excellent all around with magnificent guitar work, which continued with Chappo in STREETWALKERS.

NP: Take Your Partners

NPA: (afterwords) Buffet Tea For Two

With "The beginning" I meant the beginning of my review, that I have copied down the phrase.

I agree with you that there were many influences: if we consider only UK, Nice, Procol Harum and Moody Blues on one side, and Pink Floyd and Family on the other. But I guess The Family's music in the 1968 

was very ecletic, not only psychedelia. In my opinion Music from a Doll's House contains the seeds of almost every genre and form develop in the progressive rock. So, If I had to think of the real beginning of progressive, I would choose In The Court of... 1969.

PS Peter Gabriel said he took inspiration from the singing of Roger Chapman. 

I posted my review at 10,37 and, as you can see, SteveG created this thread at 11.13.

The peak of the album, for me, is the sequence

Peace of Mind /Voyage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHFru3rfxK8" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHFru3rfxK8

A perennial favourite lp from one of my all time favourite groups; and in my mind tops Family Entainment which followed.. It was 'Entertainment' along with ITCOTCK and some Procol Harum lps that Richard MacPhail brought to the Cottage where Genesis all lived together prior to recording Trespass..

One of the things that set Family a bit apart was the provincial background of the band, coming from the area around Leicester- the 'Scene' (using that phrase in its 60's meaning) was predominantly London based and very much middle class, Art School.. Family were (to use their phrase) a bunch of 'Scruffy Herberts' from the sticks.. before becoming Family (The Family) they were The Farinas and then the Roaring 60's.. much more hard R&B like the Pretty things and at one point they used to wear Italian mafia get ups! Roger Chapman's aggressive stage persona and the strange selection of instrumentation made audiences nervous and they had to work REALLY hard to get some of the limelight which came so easily to others. I think this provincial 'hunger' and work ethic to get noticed also applied to the Moody Blues..

Music in a dolls house benefited from Dave Mason's involvement in that (A) Traffic were a big deal (B) he helped and guided them through the production process (C) had access to Mellotrons and Sitars and probably most importantly(D) he had access to the best weed.. The only downside to Mason's involvement is the song he 'contributed' 'Never like this' which is the weakest on the lp and much like what he was writing for Traffic at the time. Of course they had the 2 best engineers of the era looking after things in the forms of Eddie Kramer and George Chkiantz..

Its a period piece; there is no other lp quite like it.. is it prog etc etc? who cares. Was it influential? yes definitely but subtly though they were always a bit too eccentric and rough around the edges for the mainstream to accept. John Peel really rated Family right from the start and (unlike some bands) stayed with them right through their career.. He appreciated that rough edge as sign of genuine passion and creativity.

My final comment is that the 1967 first single 'Scene through the eye of a lens' which didn't make it on to the original lp is just fantastic, one of the most telling debuts from any band.

The original photo insert that went with the first batch of pressings.. 

''Strange looking band were we''

I am of the opinion that FAMILY became a much better band once John Wetton left and they went into a much more rock oriented sound and their work got tighter and stronger, even though we don't consider it "progressive music", at the very least the strong, and very well defined guitar style for this band, was always excellent, and it continued in the STREETWALKERS material and even then after that on Roger Chapman's solo albums (notably HYENAS ONLY LAUGH FOR FUN).

Some folks like the earlier material because it was strange and sometimes weird, and it came off kinda drug crazy many times, but I find their last 3 albums much better all around (before they became STREETWALKERS), and for playing it on radio (Guy Guden pretty much tore up many of these albums, that's how much they were played!) around other pieces of music, these made for an excellent amount of material that could be heard time and again. 

Personally, I liked some of their very explosive pieces, instead of the more recognized sounding stuff. Things like BUFFET TEA FOR TWO, TAKE YOUR PARTNERS, and the like stood out for their individuality, which might have had its inception from within the progressive ranks, however, I really think that these were all intentionally defined around making their rock music design stronger and more appealing than just a piece here and there and a solo right here, kind of thing ... it was not about the solo ... it was about illustrating Roger Chapman's voice, and all the way to Chappo's solos this was very well done.

To me, since there were no "solos" to speak off, in many ways that made it for more "progressive" than otherwise. Sometimes people name something "progressive" simply because someone extends the solo much more ... and his name is Howe, or __________ (whoever!). The earlier material was a bit on the stony and weird side, and fun to listen to ... so it can be considered "progressive", being in the early days of PF, later days of Beatles, and the psychedelia craze. Even though it is fun to listen to, it is not my favorite material by this band at all ... which for me has always been about the voice and the guitar explosions ... and Chappo was one of the best at it.

OTOH, the Streetwalkers 1976 song, "Decadence Code" is my fave Roger Chapman song ever.  Here's a bizarre fact, I was just looking the album "Red Card" up on wiki and the drummer was Nicko McBrain...soon to find world stardom as Iron Maiden's drummer