In the late 70's the big prog artists were leaning to more of a pop/AOR direction and the popularity of the genre was starting to decline. US symphonic/prog. band Cathedral released Stained Glass Stories in 1978 influenced heavily by Yes, especially the Relayer album and King Crimson, Genesis and Camel. Due to circumstances from that time the band din't release another album until they reformed in 2007 to release Bridge. Fans of Chris Squire and Steve Howe will want to give this a listen.
Again, not an obscure artist, but not well known outside prog. enthusiasts circles. UK was one of the first progressive "supergroups" consisting of journeyman vocalist/bassist John Wetton(Family, King Crimson, Uriah Heep, Roxy Music), drummer Bill Bruford(Yes, King Crimson), Allan Holdsworth on guitar(Tempest, Soft Machine, Gong), and keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson(Roxy Music). The s/t debut was released in 1978 blending prog/rock with jazz-fusion and amazing musianship and technically wonderful.
Holdsworth left after the first Lp and wasn't replaced but Eddie Jobson was to fill the void with his keyboards/violin, as a result the second album, Danger Money wasn't as strong as the debut. Bruford also left and was replaced by Terry Bozzio(Frank Zappa) on drums.
In some ways UK paved the way for prog/rock "supergroups" of the early 80's like Asia and GTR and the AOR direction these bands followed is questioned if this took the wind from blowing the prog/rock flag(?).
UK Progressive hard rock band that put out 2 albums 1973's One Live Badger ( a live debut ) and and 1974's White Lady which moved away from the Prog rock of the excellent first album into an r&b direction that was and is a huge disappointment for me. Badger featured Tony Kaye of YES fame and the first album was produced by Jon Anderson . They also featured members of Badfinger.
Wolf: IMO, One Live Badger is one the best live albums from the 70's prog/rock.
I agree, it's too bad that they changed direction on the follow up.
If they had stayed intact in their original form and stayed on the musical path of their debut they could have left behind one hellva musical legacy.
^^^ At times I'm baffled why bands take a different musical direction after a fantastic release(s). On the other hand I do understand that there is inside and outside influences as well, like record label pressures to sell a certain number of copies, pressure to keep a recording contract, contractual agreements, line-up changes, different personnel musical interests and influence, musical experimentation, etc.
Keeping it in the Yes family tree, Flash was formed by the first Yes guitarist, Peter Banks and keyboardist Tony Kaye along with vocalist Colin Carter who was very similar to the vocals of Jon Anderson. 1972 saw the s/t debut sounding a lot like Yes, especially The Yes Album, really no surprise there. Peter Banks is an accomplished guitarist and it shows here as he and the band blend prog. and jazz passages contributing to quite a rocking album.
The same year, In The Can was released with Banks taking more of a lead role with guitar playing as Tony Kaye had moved on, though Banks does contribute with his own keyboard playing.
The third album, Out Of Our Hands released the following year, bassist/keyboardist Ray Bennett contributes heavily to the song writing and musical direction as well.
The band then dissolved and Peter Banks released a fantastic solo Lp called Two Sides of Peter Banks which featured Focus guitarist Jan Akkerman, Phil Collins, John Wetton, amongst others.
Banks later formed a band called Flash Mark II, then changing the name to Empire which released three albums and broke up in 1980.
Here's one of the roots to the Yes family tree. Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz left Mainhorse after one album to team up with Lee Jackson and Brian Davidson formerly from The Nice. The real show here is the fantastic keys work of Moraz, though maybe not to the level of Kieth Emerson or Rick Wakeman, but it is a real treat. After thier s/t release in 1974, Yes came knocking at the door and recruited Moraz to join them on Relayer(you'll hear why after listening to the following tracks) and later joined the Moody Blues.
Re: Obscure Gems From The "Classic" Prog/Rock Era 
Linear Mode
