Top 5 "Classic" Prog albums

[clactdj]

Thanks for the responses on the newer Prog albums. I'm sure this has been done before, but I don't see an archives listing.

Out of the "Classic" era of Prog (approx. 1968- 77), what are your Top 5 albums? I want to make this tough, so PLEASE KEEP IT TO 5!!!

Here are mine:

1) King Crimson-In The Court of the Crimson King
2) Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
3) Yes-Close To The Edge
4) Emerson, Lake & Palmer-Brain Salad Surgery
5) Renaissance-Ashes Are Burning

[Avian(Admin)]

1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
2. Yes - Close to the Edge
3. ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
3. Genesis - Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
4. Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn
5. King Crimson - Red


I think...

1) Tales from Topographic Oceans - Yes
2) Selling England by the Pound - Genesis
3) Focus 3 - Focus
4) Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
5) To our Children's Children's Children - Moody Blues.

This will probably change in about 5 minutes but as a snapshot in time this is it for now.

Merry Christmas to all.

[Powerslave]

Hmmm.... Here goes nothing...

1. Genesis - Foxtrot
2. Yes - The Yes Album
3. King Crimson - Red
4. ELP - Trilogy
5. Genesis - Selling England By The Pound


I have to go re-boot my brain now.

[Kurt Preston]

1. RUSH - Caress of Steel
2. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
3. Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
4. Yes - Drama
5. UFO - Flying

[Yesspaz]

1. Yes - Relayer
2. Yes - Going for the One
3. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
4. Pink Floyd - Meddle
5. Oldfield - Tubular Bells

That's not exactly definitive.

[progdirjim(Admin)]

Gotta include some 3-LP sets:

Yes - Yessongs
ELP - Welcome Back My Friends
Genesis - Foxtrot
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Magma - MDK

top that!

[Slipperman]

In no particular order:

1) Genesis- Foxtrot
2) Gentle Giant- In A Glass House
3) Jethro Tull- Thick As A Brick
4) Yes- Close To The Edge
5) King Crimson- In The Court Of The Crimson King

Hard to narrow it down to just 5.

[Azure Feast]

... but I will stick to 5 albums...

Genesis: Selling England by the Pound
Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
Yes: Going for the One (Weird choice indeed, but I like it)
Supertramp: Crisis, what crisis? (Is THIS prog ?)
Machiavel: Mechanical Moonbeam (This IS prog and belgian and 1977)

[Andy]

Yikes! This'll be hard... here goes

PINK FLOYD - THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (1973)
GENESIS - SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND (1973)
EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER - TARKUS (1971)
JETHRO TULL - AQUALUNG (1971)
KING CRIMSON - LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC (1973)


My God! There are no Yes albums here!!!

[dinosaur]

Yes - Relayer
Genesis - Trespass
Alan Parsons - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
ELP - ELP

... oh, yeah
Tull - Thick as a Brick

... oh, yeah...

[Radik]

Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Yes - Relayer
King Crimson - Lark's Tongues in Aspic
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Pink Floyd - Animals

[Extended Play]

King Crimson - Islands
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Frank Zappa / Mothers - Roxy & Elsewhere
Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed

Homourable Mention:
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Yes - The Yes Album
Gentle Giant - Octopus

[Rael]

1. The Lamb - Genesis
2. The Yes Album - Yes
3. Moving Waves - Focus
4. Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull
5. Kansas - Leftoverture *

* I might have put Pink Floyd's D.S.O.T.M. here but I'm not so sure that one fully qualifies as progressive?.... although I'd sure like to hear opinions on that... !

[Yesspaz]

The opening theme of Breathe comes back in at the end of Time, and everything just flows from one song into the next...

It's so prog.

[Rael]

it's prog. It's been so long since I actual played this one. Been spending too much time exporing the unknown lately. I had only "Money", "Time" and "Great Gig" (still songs that borderline on prog when taken seperately) stuck in my mind. I just blew the dust off my cd copy and gave it a play, and clearly it fits as a package. Thanks for puttin me straight Spaz :}

[byzantium]

... and 'Money' is in 7/4.

The case is closed...

[Thor]

The early 70's put out so many great sounds
that it is hard to narrow it down..

1. Yes "Close to the Edge"-
the real epitomy of what progressive ment in the 70s rock scene, it tied with "Fragile" at this spot, a tough decision
2. King Crimson "In the Court of ..."-
progressive with bite for added measure
3. Genesis "Lamb Lies Down..."-
they hit their stride on this one, it tied with "Nursery Crime" at this spot, another tough call
4. ELP "Brain Salad Surgery"-
the title says it all, what a skullf**k
5. Renaissance "Ashes are Burning"-
Annie Haslam, what a voice what a band

If you want to talk about bands like Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, and Caravan; I believe you need to look into the psychadelic music genre that was coming out of the 60's, these fringe bands tend to get grouped in with progressive rock due to the experimental nature of the music/lyrics

[byzantium]

I think it's important not to confuse the notion of 'progressive rock' with the different charactistics of prog which appeal to us as individuals : Why do I like prog? Is it the long, complex songs? The employment of odd time signatures? The experimentalism?

What most prog bands have in common though, is that they challenge the idea most people have about rock in terms of form.

[Andy]

The way that DSOTM is structured it is almost like a mini-symphony. The opening, 'Speak to Me', is the album's overture, with some of the main sound effects (talking, which runs through the whole album; the screaming Clare Torrey, who does it again in 'The Great Gig in the Sky')and the heartbeat, plus the aural explanation of the theme of the album. Actually if you listen, the heartbeat goes from the start of 'Speak to Me', then into 'On the Run', and then when the chiming guitar chords play at the start of 'Time'. The REPEATING of ideas is one of the main points of composition.

The cash register effects are in 'Money' (which was introduced in 'Speak to Me'). The heartbeat reappears in 'Eclipse'. It's a very cleverly constructed group of compositions that relate to a theme. Therefore it is a concept album. Ergo, it is also progressive.