Top 10 Prog Folk Albums

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: 1. Roy Harper - Stormcock ...

kenethlevine wrote: great choices!  Noticing Pearls Before Swine appearing on several lists, I would like to say that the main reason they don't quite make it for me is that one song about the Children that I not only dislike but feel it doesn't fit in with the album at all.  Usually I turn a blind eye (deaf ear!) to glaring missteps but can't in this case.  Question  which Tom Rapp album should I hear next? Love that Mr Stivell's album is getting a lotof kudos as well

Psychedelic Paul wrote: I'd love to have included the votes for Harmonium in my Prog Folk poll, but they're in the Symphonic Prog section of PA.

I really don't like not having album genre tagging (and multi tagging per albums). I'd say the first Harmonium album is Prog Folk, the second still is, but is more Symphonoic Prog, and the third is more Symphonic Prog still. If a Symph fan was looking for Prog folk recommendations, then Harmonium would be one to mention. And if a prog folk fan was looking for symph works too.

I'm not saying you're silly for doing it this way, maybe that's the most economical way to check and create limitations, but it feels weird having primarily non-Prog Folk albums (say Thick as a Brick) and disallow primarily Prog Folk albums because of our limiting and flawed classification by act system (and even with that, acts sometimes get moved around). They do say that nomenclature is the bane of the archivist, but/and maybe boxing really is best left to the pugilists. "A nozh scrap anytime you say" (Alex DeLarge).

I would place Jethro Tull in Eclectic if it were up to me, and I expect that many who said that he was the quintessential Prog folk artist aren't very into Prog Folk or know a wide variety of music from the category. That said, he does have a folk rock element in plenty of albums, including Thick as a Brick, and some of his albums do fit well (so I'm hardly saying it's senseless to include JT in Prog Folk). Again, I prefer labeling, and multi-labeling, by the album rather than by the artist.

Edited by Logan - March 14 2020 at 17:26

Snicolette wrote: So hard to put these in order.....and I restricted myself to one per band or solo artist, and have faves of some of these who have phenomenal solo recordings of band members.  The numbering might differ depending on mood, but that's how it feels on a snainy day in Oregon. 1.  The Pentangle ~ Cruel Sister 2.  Pearls Before Swine ~ The Use of Ashes 3.  Strawbs ~ Witchwood 4.  Alan Stivell ~ Renaissance of the Celtic Harp 5.  Jethro Tull ~ Thick As A Brick 6.  The October Project ~ S/T 7.  Dead Can Dance ~ Aion 8.  Tim Buckley ~ Goodbye and Hello 9.  Simon & Garfunkel ~ The Sounds of Silence 10.Offa Rex ~ The Queen of Hearts That being said, the also-rans for me would include music from Faun, Malicorne, The Incredible String Band, Charlie Cawood and, if they'd been available under the category, Fairport Convention and the US Kaleidoscope.

Edited by someone_else - March 14 2020 at 16:51

Sean Trane wrote: I prophesy disaster wrote: Grumpyprogfan wrote: Only prog folk I listen to is Tull. 1. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick Same. Psychedelic Paul wrote: Grumpyprogfan wrote: Only prog folk I listen to is Tull. 1. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick That's 30 points coming Jethro Tull's way from you plus another 30 points from Mortte for the same album, so they're off to a storming lead in the poll already. And another 30 points for "Thick as a Brick" for me as well. except that TAAB is not a prog folk album, not even close. If Tull is in PF, it's mainly because of their SFTW, HH and Sw albums We've had talks about changing them from genre, but there was a poll that said they were thought of the epitome of PF.

The Dark Elf wrote: dr wu23 wrote: Well..imho the whole category is screwed up.....how is Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span not in prog folk when Tull, Strawbs and Stackridge are....seriously..? Unhalfbricking and Liege & Lief by Fairport certainly should be viewed as "Progressive Folk", as should an album like Pentangle's A Basket of Light or Cruel Sister.

I'll give this a go as progressive folk is one of my favourite catagories. There are so many to choose from. I'm much more of a folky than a rocker at heart. I do tend to favour acid folk.

1. Perry Leopold - Christian Lucifer
2. Comus - First Utterance
3. Spirogra - St. Radigunds
4. Pierrot Lunaire - Gudrun
5. Aktuala - Aktuala
6. Linda Perhacs - Parallelograms
7. Ragnarök - Ragnarök
8. The Incredible String Band - The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
9. Jan Dukes de Grey - Mice and Rats in the Loft
10. Pearls Before Swine - The Use Of Ashes

There are so many others I could have gone for.

Edited by Logan - March 14 2020 at 15:16

Edited by Sean Trane - March 15 2020 at 05:08

dr wu23 wrote: Btw..some of those that are in the category probably wouldn't even be there..or exist even... if it weren't for bands like Fairport and Span who blazed a path for them.