You won't like it.

Sorry but this is nonsense. I've been a prog head since 1980 or thereabouts and while a lot of what's said to be prog is not, Moody Blues (to an extent but really only with the next album), Floyd and Procol Harum are definitely prog. Fight me.
REALLY fight me now. So no Lamb, no Script, no Octane, no ABWH? Get outta here! :D

Edit: I also find that phrase "wouldn't be caught dead with..." hilarious. Imagine the scene.

Cop 1: "Looks like someone worked him over real good. Lot of anger there."
Cop 2: "Sick mother all right. What's that in his hand there?"
Cop 1 (hunkering down - stands up and runs to the corner making retching noises): "Jesus ****ing Christ!"
Cop 2: "What is it? What is it?"
Cop 1 (indicating behind him without turning, continuing to retch): "Look! Just ****ing LOOK at it!"
Cop 2: "Looks like... oh my god! A - I - I don't believe this! A PROG ALBUM FROM AFTER 1972! I - I think I'm gonna be sick!"
Cop 1 and 2: "Bastard got everything he deserved! Looks like, uh, suicide to me."
Cop 1: "Best thing for him. Sick ****er."

You been a prog head since 1980 make you an expert well quite clearly you are far from it

ABWH! Now you are having a laugh. Are you sure you wernt born in 1980 maybe a typo

:bonkhead:

Look, as a movement, yes, certainly, progressive rock could only be progressive while there was something to progress to, and like all movements, once this is achieved you can't realistically call what follows that progressive.

So any album after, I would say arbitrary date, 1976, maybe, could be said not to be progressive in that sense.

But as a descriptor for a genre, I go with the seven accepted criteria:
Long tracks, usually 6 - 10 minutes or longer
Esoteric lyrical matter (mythology, fantasy, literature, history etc)
Non-standard musical instruments (cello, harp, violin, flute, harmonica, harpsichord etc)
Song suites
Non-standard song structures (no verse/verse/chorus/verse, generally)
Long instrumental passages, often introduction and/or outro
Predominance of keyboard, maybe acoustic guitar

As long as an album or artist fulfills at least five of these criteria, I consider them prog. You're free not to, but don't be a prog snob about it and try to pigeonhole all prog rock as being before 1972. That's just stupid and very arrogant. What about

Spock's Beard
Rush
Marillion
Big Big Train
Fish on Friday
Gazpacho
Arena
Mostly Autumn
Genesis mid-seventies to early eighties
Touchstone
Red Sand
and a hundred others? You can't discount them and say they're not progressive rock.

They may not be YOUR idea of prog rock, but they still qualify.

And I was born in 1963 as it happens, so there's no need to be snippy. Genesis were my first prog band, then Marillion and Rush, Mostly Autumn, and so on. The world didn't stop in 1972 dude, take my word for it. Don't be caught dead with a prog album after that year if you want, but don't expect everyone else to agree with you. There's a whole lot of superb prog out there if you could take off your blinders and just look for it, but if you don't wish to do that, live in 1972. You're welcome to it. You're missing a whole lot of great music though.

Oh, FYI: I never put myself forward as an expert. I've learned, and continue to learn, a lot while writing my History of Prog journal, but I'm nowhere near an expert. I'm simply a prog head, someone who enjoys listening to prog. So please don't put words or claims into my mouth.

And You and I and Siberian Khatru are outstanding songs that need the title track as a bit of contrast, but I can understand not having the patience to get through it.

Try this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00xvW4ZSJ9M

The entire concert is great. A lotta good tunes spanning multiple albums:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTk7KmCNOJE

:laughing: Best post in this entire thread! Good one, Mindfulness.

As a keen Yes fan for the albums from Time And A Word through to Relayer, I'd say my fave was Fragile. Having bought Tales Of Topographic Oceans on the basis of brand loyalty, I was very disappointed with it. Still, to justify my outlay, I persevered and came to really love about 2 and a half of the four sides.

In terms of popularity, Time And a Word is always the unloved runt of the litter; perhaps that's why I have a special affection for it - or because of tracks like this, where Yes sound like the band they were to become, but embedded in a sound that is like a road untaken:-

My favourite is Magnification. I'm a sucker for rock/orchestra fusions, ELO being the textbook example. So in many ways that album felt tailor-made to my tastes. Personally I liked it a lot more than Time and a Word, simply because I liked the songs and general production more.

I picked Going For the One.

To me this is the one that hits the sweet spot between progressive and accessible.

I like Fragile,90125 and Big Generator the most out of all of them.......