"50 albums that 'have defined this most esoteric of genres"

[annie]

In the latest edition of Classic Rock magazine a poster lists the 50 albums that "have defined this most esoteric of genres"

Freak Out - Frank Zappa
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Procol Harum - S/T
Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed
The Nice - The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King
Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief
Soft Machine - Volume Two
Curved Air - Air Conditioning
Van der Graaf Generator - The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other
Magma - S/T
Barclay James Harvest - Once Again
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Caravan - In The Land Of Grey And Pink
E.L.P. - Tarkus
Focus - Moving Waves
Yes - Fragile
Genesis - Foxtrot
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
E.L.P. - Brain Salad Surgery
Gong - Angel's Egg
Rick Wakeman - Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
Supertramp - Crime Of The Century
E.L.O. - Eldorado
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Hawkwind - Warrior On The Edge Of Time
Renaissance - Scheherazade
Camel - Moonmadness
Alan Parsons - Tales Of Mystery And Imagination
Kansas - Leftoverture
Peter Gabriel - First
Rush - A Farewell To Kings
Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
Asia - S/T
Marillion - Misplaced Childhood
Yes - 90125
Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
Dream Theater - When Dream And Day Unite
Radiohead - OK Computer
Opeth - Blackwater Park
The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
Muse - Black Holes And Revelations
Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Each album gets a pic of the album cover with a short paragraph. The list, they say, was compiled by the likes of amongst others, Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, Carl Palmer, members of Marillion, Mastodon, Dream Theater and Alice Cooper. Among all of the usual prog faves (Yes, ELP, Tull etc) there are some interesting inclusions, especially for me - none other than Eldorado by E.L.O.! Most such lists never mention E.L.O.

"Always hugely and very obviously influenced by The Beatles, ELO's overtly symphonic sound was ideal to blend in with prog. ELO started to take the prog genre in new directions, as did Supertramp around the same time. Eldorado was the first to be recorded with a full orchestra and is a concept album about a daydreamer."

One question - Are Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper really prog?

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

One question - Are Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper really prog?

Not at all.

A simply answer to a simple question.

 

[Zombeels]

One question - Are Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper really prog?

No more than Procol Harum - S/T or Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. But all these albums directly influenced prog.

 

[Aktivator]

No more than Procol Harum - S/T or Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. But all these albums directly influenced prog.

The first 6 or 7 albums are the essential proto prog (although albums influenced other genres too). It's a nice list and Annie I would put E.L.O. - Eldorado on any prog list although I've seen many websites exclude ELO as a prog band. Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree knows his stuff too

check this out

 

[annie]

^^^^ That is so cool. He really flaunts his knowledge there.

 

[Abraxas]

One question - Are Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper really prog?

I never considered Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper prog albums.

 

[Stout]

Wait a minute! '90125', one of the more straightforward pop/rock efforts from Yes is on here, but 'Close To The Edge', one of the great progressive albums as rated by the Progressive Rock Archives is not???
I don`t pretend to be an expert on progressive rock, but there are some glaring omissions.

 

[LG]

I have no idea about some of the selections but I have 42 of those albums in the library, so I guess I am a fan of this genre...

Sgt. Peppers...I always thought of it as a concept album, so it I think it is prog influenced if not the genuine article.

 

[Aktivator]

Wait a minute! '90125', one of the more straightforward pop/rock efforts from Yes is on here, but 'Close To The Edge', one of the great progressive albums as rated by the Progressive Rock Archives is not???
I don`t pretend to be an expert on progressive rock, but there are some glaring omissions.

Good point
I prefer this list of 100 great although its got a few problems too.
Top Prog Rock Music Albums List

 

[annie]

Wait a minute! '90125', one of the more straightforward pop/rock efforts from Yes is on here, but 'Close To The Edge', one of the great progressive albums as rated by the Progressive Rock Archives is not???
I don`t pretend to be an expert on progressive rock, but there are some glaring omissions.

If I am not mistaken, they listed only one album per group so they chose 90125.