What is your favorite prog rock band? (no prog metal here)

[Phanto]

Marillion.

 

[proulxski]

Porcupine Tree is my fave. Followed by Pineapple Thief, and Abigails Ghost!

 

[mark b]

IQ, Yes, The Flower Kings, SETI, Enchant, Odyssice and i'm sure I have a few others. I don't think Hourglass are Prog rock, great band but not Prog rock. Pagans Mind are more Power Prog IMO.

 

[hexwind]

here are a few of my favorite old prog bands.

Camel
Nektar
(old)Gentle Giant
Wishbone Ash
Frank Zappa
Captain Beyond

 

[Kenneth R.]

adding Transatlantic

 

[noble savage]

Anglagard, Anekdoten, Wobbler, Porcupine Tree etc. And really any other bands along those lines.

 

[Marwen]

I just do not get Porcupine Tree. How anyone can take a genre as over-the-top as prog rock and make it boring is beyond me. I mean, yeah they're playing but so what, you know?

FUKC OFF NOOB U SUCK LOLOLOLOL



Seriously though, it's just a taste thing. I know someone who says the same about Opeth. Sometimes it's either you "get" a band or you don't.

Edit: I've always felt the exact same about Pink Floyd.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Ditto on Pink Floyd. I like a handful of songs and maybe two full albums, but other than that...

 

[PrgrsveMetalnChains]

I agree...I don't hold Pink Floyd on an epic pedestal as most of the rest of the world. I like maybe 6 songs and thats it for me.

Favorite Prog Rock band would have to be Porcupine Tree hands down.

 

[Krondor]

I agree with the Pink Floyd thing. I do respect them alot, but I just can't seem to get into them... I've actually tried a couple of times, but when it comes to music I always NEED to "find" some bands on my own. If someone is pressuring me to listen something I most likely won't love it... I might be like "..this is ok..." and then in like 4 years I found the band again ON MY OWN and then I fall in love with them It's annoying but I can't help it...

 

[The Stormbringer]

Two pages and not a single mention of Rush? Shame on all of you.

As far as classic Prog Rock is concerned, Rush, King Crimson and Genesis (Gabriel era) are about the only bands I can swallow whole. Camel, Kansas, Jethro Tull and Hawkwind are nice as well, but not quite up to those lofty standards. All things Canterbury-related I just can't get into, Van Der Graaf Generator make me cringe, Pink Floyd are rrrreally boring save for a few tracks and the likes of Yes and ELP weren't able to sustain my interest in them indefinitely. I definitely prefer some of the Prog-tinged hard rock bands the 70s had to offer such as Queen or Uriah Heep.
On the other hand I'm not all that much into contemporary bands playing Retro-Proggy stuff. That includes Spock's Beard (bore me to tears unless playing Fusion-ish stuff) and Transatlantic but not IZZ, who do it with a spark and charm I have not felt in any other band of that genre. I also never got what's so special about Porcupine Tree. I'm more into Fusion/Math Rock-related stuff (Gordian Knot, Canvas Solaris) these days.

By the way, big ups to whoever said that Fates Warning is the last bastion of classic Prog Metal in 2010. So true. Let's see what reunited Psychotic Waltz are up to.

 

[Kenneth R.]

can I say Paatos, Sigur Ros?

 

[Krondor]

I sure hope Rush is gonna play some old Rush when they come to Finland...
I AM gonna see them live !!

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

I just do not get Porcupine Tree. How anyone can take a genre as over-the-top as prog rock and make it boring is beyond me. I mean, yeah they're playing but so what, you know?

I kind of agree with you. Some of their songs are really good, but the majority bore me to death. They just seem to meander and have no direction. I feel the same at the end of their songs as I do at the beginning.

Opeth's Damnation disc

I have to second this; one of my top 3 albums of all time! It's a mood piece, though.

I don't hold Pink Floyd on an epic pedestal as most of the rest of the world.

I completely agree. I like some of their stuff (e.g. Pigs and Dogs from the Animals album) but the majority of it I just don't understand. To me it's sleep-inducing.

 

[Postulate]

FUKC OFF NOOB U SUCK LOLOLOLOL



Seriously though, it's just a taste thing. I know someone who says the same about Opeth. Sometimes it's either you "get" a band or you don't.

Edit: I've always felt the exact same about Pink Floyd.

Well, it is good to hear a consensus on Pink Floyd, since I have to admit I often feel the same way. And honestly, I don't really like Opeth either. I think the reason is that I prefer music to be very knotty and intensive, more than atmospheric and emotional. Give me Fripp over Gilmour any time.

All things Canterbury-related I just can't get into, Van Der Graaf Generator make me cringe

Oh, man. I'm just getting into the Canterbury scene and it is incredible. Some of it holds on too dearly to psychedelic rock for my taste, but overall, hot damn, what a rare renaissance. And VdGG is one of my favorites - like with PT, though, I think you have to be a certain kind of person to get into it. Namely, you have to have patience for indulgent fantasies. I always say, though...it only takes a mediocre band for someone to recommend you listen to it while high - it takes something a bit more for someone to warn you not to.

 

[gilbertn923]

My personal favorite would have to be Transatlantic, but I do love listening to bands like Spock's Beard, Porcupine Tree, Yes, Genesis, and so on.

 

[Krondor]

Where is the line between prog and progressive metal? I have not listened to PT much, but I would say they are pretty metal... but then again so is King Crimson...

 

[Postulate]

Where is the line between prog and progressive metal? I have not listened to PT much, but I would say they are pretty metal... but then again so is King Crimson...

If you just go by distortion the line is pretty arbitrary, but stylistically there's a pretty clear difference. The rhythm sections in prog metal bands almost always are derived from power, thrash, and trad. heavy metal, albeit generally syncopated and twisted around into odd times. You don't see any of that in prog rock. Also, prog rock never has power chords.

But it gets more confusing because the second wave of neo-prog bands like Spock's Beard were recursively influenced by prog metal. So...have fun with that! The second album by Cairo is a classic example where my ears, which are used to classifying one way or the other, get confused (and as a result so does my penis).

 

[DeathByDeath]

Posted about 'em before, but Tetrafusion have a lot of great "prog-rock" elements, although their mainly a metal band.

King Crimson
Dream Theater (some stuff...)
Porcupine Tree
Anathema

good stuff

 

[Lucius Octavion]

I'd definitely have to say I agree with whoever it was that said Ozric Tentacles, and I'd also like to mention the band Gryphon, which I love more than anything.