Trollheart

And here I am, back with the list. To be fair, it’s hard to discount any of the albums released in 1970 that contributed to the prog scene, so I haven’t. Well, not many.

The Madcap Laughs - Syd Barrett

While I can find no actual reference to this album being prog rock of any sort, it has to be accepted that without Syd the chances are that Pink Floyd might not have existed, or might have been a totally different band. Certainly, “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” and “Wish You Were Here” would likely not have been written, and, while Syd’s musical and mental demise is sad and lamentable, sometimes it’s tragedy that brings the best out of a band. And so we owe it to the mad one to at least listen to and review his debut solo album, released in the year his old band would start to make major waves. Without him.

The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other - Van der Graaf Generator

Second album from a band who would become very important to the emerging prog scene, blending elements of jazz and blues into their music, and influencing a whole slew of young bright-eyed hopefuls in the future. At this point though, VDGG were bright-eyed hopefuls, and their debut album, released the previous year, had hardly set the charts alight. This one wouldn’t either. It did however scrape into the top forty, by the skin of its teeth, a better performance than The Aerosol Grey Machine, and indeed their best ever chart placing.

Egg - Egg

I know nothing about Egg, other than that they were big on the Canterbury Scene, and they were the band Steve Hillage wasn’t in. I’ll be finding out more about them as I review this and their other albums, this being their debut. Obviously.

Benefit - Jethro Tull

I feel this may be a dodgy choice, as it seems to have been some time into their career before Tull achieved a sound that could in any way be described as progressive rock, but I can hardly ignore icons like them, so we’ll give it a listen, but I won’t expect too much. Hey hey hey! I’ll give them the “benefit” of the doubt! Yes? No? Have it your way then. Moving on…

Yeti - Amon Duul II

Considered very important in the new Krautrock scene, this is Amon Duul’s second album, and some say, their best. We’ll see.

In the Wake of Poseidon - King Crimson

Having exploded onto the prog rock scene the previous year with the now-classic In the Court of the Crimson King, Fripp’s boys did not rest on their laurels, releasing their second album a mere seven months later. It further reinforced their place as future prog rock giants. It says here.

Barclay James Harvest - Barclay James Harvest

Always thought this was an interesting name for a band. Not interesting enough for me to check them out though, which means that I know almost nothing about them. Have to change that. This was their debut album.

Home - Procul Harum

I’ve already been impressed with their first three albums, so hopefully the fourth will continue that trend.

Third - Soft Machine

These guys, on the other hand, have yet to impress me. Big they may have been in Canterbury, but I wasn’t sold on their first two albums. It’s Soft Machine again, with their imaginatively-titled third album.

Time and a Word - Yes

This is the Yes album (no, not The Yes Album!) I spoke of in the … And in Other Prog News feature, the one where Jon and the boys decided to use an orchestra.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018