a21schizoidman's 60 Prog Bands to listen to before you die

[a21schizoidman]

After the thrill of the 50 Concept Albums to Hear Before you die, here are the 60 progressive rock/metal bands to listen to before you die

im putting it here, because, well, i have no idea where else to put it

60. Yes
yes, an obvious band, Close to the Edge, Tales From Topographic Oceans, Fragile, and the Yes Album, truly amazing, but then they decided to go 80s pop, and that has forever stained them (damn you 90125)
59. Opeth
the progressive rock/metal/death metal band that has been all the rage the last few years, very good, but not as good as that kid who just heard of them will tell you!
58. Dream Theater
ah yes, the proto-typical progressive metal band, you know they have been around since 1985, right? yeah, stop thinking they are current people, but yes, in the 90s, they released some good material
57. Tangerine Dream
the second greatest popular electronic band (#1 is later), released a few too many albums though, which saturates them down...
56. Genesis
yes, before Phil Collins decided to start them in a pop rock direction, they were under control of Peter Gabriel, and damn, Collins could play drums then! well, Supper's Ready!
55. King Crimson
the band known for bring progressive rock to the mainstream, King Crimson, you have heard of them, yes? madly influential on the genre as a whole, but they never could keep a line-up, could they?
54. Marillion
Neo-prog at its finest, they have gone through two eras (go into deeper in the next Shades thread) but Script for A Jester's Tear and Fugazi are musts
53. Emerson Lake & Palmer
the original progressive rock supergroup, they were once fairly mainstream, for prog, Lucky Man is great, but is only the tip of the iceberg, but since I am a fanboy, i'll stop here
52. Jethro Tull
they have more albums than Aqualung and Thick As A Brick people!! Benefit and Stand Up solidified them as prog greats, Songs from the Wood made them better, A Passion Play made them EPIC
51. Kansas
before the 80s, they were progressive rock with radio airplay, unfortunately, Carry On My Wayward Son was near the end of that era..., try looking at Masque or Song For America
50. Family
Music In A Doll's House, enough said
49. Happy the Man
truly great band, instrumentals that make you want to delve deeper into the genre, too band they didn't stay together very long...
48. Curved Air
how they didn't get bigger I have no clue, guess the mainstream didn't care for female fronted progressive rock, at the time
47. Queensryche
Operation: Mindcrime is legendary, so why the hell did they try to make a sequel??? oh well, until then, lets overplay Silent Lucidity more, its good enough to not tune out though
46. Mike Oldfield
Tubular Bells, single handedly brought Virgin Records out, Tubular Bells II and III, well, II is alright, III, stay away, but the first one is too good for words, which is why Vivian Stanshall had to narrate, because, nothing could top those instruments, I mean, one guy plays 30 different instruments on a record, cool right?, a guy masters 30 different instruments on a record? AWESOME!
45. Styx
ah, Styx, how before you decided to go pop rock you had so much going for you, bringing prog to the masses, Thank you Grand Illusion, damn you Kilroy...
44. Hawkwind
Space rock mixed with Prog, how awesome is that?
43. The Moody Blues
The biggest progressive rock band of them all, Days of Future Passed, In Search of A Lost Chord, Every Good Boy Deserves A Favour, On the Threshold of A Dream, (drools) I want this at my wedding
42. Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention
Yes, yes, yes, its Frank, go listen, now
41. Kingston Wall
90s progressive metal, good band, check out II
40. Alan Parsons Project
Probably the most mainstream progressive rock band you can name. They dominated the 80s prog scene. Concept albums were their art, and they never played live. Suck on that!
39. Hatfield & the North
the Canterbury Scene was so great, two albums and that's it for them though
38. Matching Mole
another prog supergroup, Soft Machine meets Caravan, didn't stick around though
37. Symphony X
one of the bigger progressive metal bands today, put on a damn good live show, but their albums can get a little tiresome after a while, anyways, Michael Romeo is the Meat Loaf of guitar
36. Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Christmas Music! YES! not only did they make it cool, they made it rock, and they know how the hell to do a damn good instrumental!
35. Egg
Ah, so non-chalant, While Growing My Hair, The Polite Force, needed to be bigger...
34. Crazy World of Arthur Brown
Carl Palmer got his start here (touring, not on the album), Arthur Brown is insane (damn near influenced shock rock himself), tanyways Vincent Crane and CP left to start their own group
33. Starcastle
they wanted to start in the early 70s, didn't get their start until the end of the prog boom... so sad...
32. Wintersun
yeah, these guys play progressive folk melodic power metal
31. Fates Warning
one of the most influential progressive metal bands ever, No Exit is legendary
30. Transatlantic
the supergroup from Dream Theater and Spock's Beard, some awesome stuff, Bridge Across Forever is beautiful
29. Gong
they have played prog, psychadelic, jazz fusion, and space rock, they morph to whatever they want to, and pull it off
28. Ayreon
Dutch prog, damn, can Arjen Anthony Lucassen be any more awesome?
27. The Nice
the very first progressive rock band, Keith Emerson started here, they also made West Side Story cool, oh yeah, they are back together too...
26. Flower Kings
part of what i consider the 4th wave of prog (1st being the late 60s, early 70s, 2nd being the mid to late 70s, 3rd being the 80s, 4th being the 90s to now), Garden of Dreams is amazing
25. Cynic
thank you for getting back together!!! Focus is awesome, Traced In Air is too
24. Uriah Heep
the origin of progressive metal lies here, Mick Box has kept this beast roaring since 1970, and it won't stop anytime soon
23. National Health
it doesn't get any more experimental than this
22. Captain Beyond
hello rejects from early metal bands (DP, Iron Butterfly), thank you for proving you deserved better
21. Atomic Rooster
Carl Palmer and Vincent Crane left CWOAB to form this band, their debut is phenomenal, then CP left to go to ELP, Vincent carried them for a while though
20. Kraftwerk
yes, krautrock's electronica is astounding, just listen to me, listen to them, now
19. Captain Beefheart
you might be asking how he got higher than Zappa, here's the answer, have you heard of him? maybe, have you listened to him? i doubt it, thats why
18. The Enid
one of the greatest 2nd wave prog bands that has been forgotten about, great keys here, guess punk rock kinda put them in the shadows...
17. Caravan
this has to be the only Canterbury Scene band to completely stay true to themselves that is still together
16. Henry Cow
ah avant-garde, how lost have you been? anyways, if you like female vocals over experimental rock, go listen
15. Epica
probably my favorite recent band, Simone can sing beautifully, and Mark can death growl like a corpse, together they go together wonderfully
14. Gentle Giant
tisk tisk, why weren't you bigger? better than some of the bands that got big during your time (looks at Yes and Genesis)
13. Spock's Beard
ah yes, 4th wave, they have really brought the genre back to life
12. Camel
the only other Canterbury Scene prog band left, unfortunately, though they remained awesome, they started to change their style to fit in with the 80s, but, luckily, didn't go the ways of Yes and Genesis as to fully leave prog behind
11. Nektar
highly influential krautrock band, unfortunately, they never broke through to become popular, A Tab In the Ocean is epic
10. Supertramp
they started the 80s prog sound back in the mid 70s, yes, that apparently is possible
9. Soft Machine
a pioneer in the genre, very good jazz fusion mixed with prog, Third is their magnum opus
8. Porcupine Tree
probably the best 4th wave band out there, they keep going between prog rock and prog metal though, i really wish they would stick to one...
7. Renaissance
hell yes, female fronted prog! Ashes Are Burning is a good epic song when done live, Turn of the Cards is more amazing though as an album
6. Atheist
couldn't have a list without technical death prog fusion metal band Atheist, they are brutal, yes, i just said the word brutal, so sue me

5. Number 5
4. Number 4
3. Number 3
2. Number 2
1. Eins!


Honorable Mentions:
Utopia
Dixie Dregs
Focus
The Tangent
Le Orme
Goblin
Gilgamesh
Wigwam
Amon Duul II

[afterstasis]

lots of good picks!

my slight disappointment in seeing no magma was made up for with your top 7.

[instantdeath999]

What if I die instantly, and don't get the chance to hear them all?

[a21schizoidman]

What if I die instantly, and don't get the chance to hear them all?

then click the links on the names!!!

lots of good picks!

my slight disappointment in seeing no magma was made up for with your top 7.

thank ye

[SevinWoohoo]

Yay Atheist and Uriah Heep. Also, that's a really good list.

[KingProgdor]

You need

Can
Amon Duul II
and Eloy if you're going to have Kraftwerk.

[Gowienczyk]

No Pain of Salvation?

[a21schizoidman]

You need

Can

look in the top 5 my friend


as for the others, I didnt want to saturate the list with too much krautrock, Le Orme and Goblin also failed to make it, though I should have put all of them in the Honorable mentions

[KingProgdor]

<333333

And you have Van Der Graaf Generator's 'Man-Erg' as your number 2.

YOU HAVE MADE ME A VERY HAPPY MAN.

[a21schizoidman]

<333333

And you have Van Der Graaf Generator's 'Man-Erg' as your number 2.

YOU HAVE MADE ME A VERY HAPPY the MAN.

fixed, lol Man-Erg rules, hell Pawn Hearts rules!



eh, the least we could do is wave to each other