About your native progressive rock bands

I know it's weird...but even when the lyrics are complete nonsense (Like Jon Anderson's for example) or even when they're not native english speakers (like Eloy and Amon Duul II) I still like to know what they're saying.

And I have this nasty habit of singing along to my favourite songs all the time. I can't do that for foreign languages. I can't really explain.

For me its just a personal thing. It has to be in english or it has to be instrumental.  

Edited by Eapo_q42 - March 17 2009 at 18:48

If you are looking for good examples of RPI with English lyrics, don't bother, and save your money for something else. None of the albums in English by Italian bands even remotely approach the brilliance of those recorded in Italian. I am a native speaker of Italian, and can't stand people singing in bad English, with very heavy accents. If lyrics are so important for you, stick to prog coming from English-speaking countries. You would not get a good idea of the subgenre anyway, and those RPI CDs do not come cheap.

I'm from Quebec, Canada. A few bands have already been mentionned, and I will add a lot more.

Well there's the obvious, Harmonium and Maneige, both well known in PA.
Then there's:
Harmonium-related:
Fiori-Seguin (Deux cents nuits a l'heure) : Collaboration between Serge Fiori and well known folk singer Richard Seguin. It's a bit too pop a times but there are some gems on this record.
Neil Chotem (Live au El Casino) : Neil was a major collaborator on Harmonium's L'heptade (and also played on the Fiori-Seguin album). The songs are mostly instrumental and mixes classical and soft jazz with some prog touches. Neil is accompanied by most of the Harmonium lineup from l'Heptade along with Marie-Claire Seguin, Richard's sister. Vers l'infini is an amazing song and absolute standout. Rather hard to find but really good stuff.

There's also Ville-Emard Blues Band, a huge jazz/fusion collective of over 20 musicians, including the whole lineup of Contraction, some future/ex-members of Harmonium, Vos Voisins,Toubadou and many more.
VEBB related:
Contraction (s/t, La bourse ou la vie) : their second LP is amazing, their style is mostly into softer jazz with some rock and folk thrown in.
Yves Laferrière (s/t) : Contraction's mainman released a solo LP in '78, and it sounds pretty much like what Contraction's 3rd LP could have been. Excellent stuff, especially the song Mouvements.
Jacques Blais (Themes) : This is a solo LP from Blais meaning that the music is from Blais but since it was produced by Laferriere and performed with Contraction members it has a bit of Contraction style to it. Most of the album is great but there are few duds aiming toward the pop crowd.
Vos Voisins (s/t) : Pretty solid heavy prog with lots of Hammond. Sung in joual (quebec slang). Their guitar player was later part of VEBB.

And there are many more:
Aquarelle (Sous un Arbre, Live a Montreux) : Solid jazz/fusion/prog, a bit like Maneige's '76-'79 period.
Et Cetera (s/t) : They take the syncopated style of Gentle Giant and add their own twist. Male/female vocals and dual keyboards. A bit derivative of other English bands but great stuff.
Incubus (Memoires incubussiennes) : Now called ExCubus to avoid confusion with other similar-named bands. They recorded some stuff in the 70's but never managed to make a record. They reunited in 2008 and recorded some more tracks. The whole thing was released by ProgQuebec recently. Their sound is like a cross between ELP and Le Orme, add to that some electric guitar and a heavier, more menacing tone and you can guess what they sound like. Excellent stuff.
Morse Code (Marche des Hommes, Procreation, Je suis le temps) : Not really my cup of tea, but they made some really great symphonic stuff like the title tracks of La Marche des Hommes and Procreation.
Octobre (s/t, Les Nouvelles Terres, Survivance, L'autoroute des reves, Live-Chants dans la nuit) : I'm surprised they aren't more well known. This is one of the best bands of Quebec, prog rock with a slight jazz touch. Top notch musicians, especially the drums and bass guitar. Survivance, les Nouvelles terres and the live album are all mandatory.
Opus5 (Contre-courant) : Excellent symphonic stuff with jazz influence. I had a bit of problems with the vocals at first.
Pollen (s/t) : One of the best symphonic prog album ever made in Quebec. Need I say more?
Sloche (J'un oeil, Stadacone) : Absolutely amazing band, mostly intrumental, alternating between jazz/fusion and Gentle Giant weirdness. Both albums are mandatory.
Solstice (Mirage, Espresso) : Mostly a jazz-rock band with some prog touches. Espresso is the best of the two. The bass player is amazing.

I'm not very familiar with modern bands but there are a few that I care about:
Karcius (Sphere, Kaleidoscope, Episode) : Excellent all instrumental band with King Crimson and metal influence. Their best is Kaleidoscope.
Spaced Out (s/t, Eponymous 2, Slow Gin, Unstable Matter, Evolution) : Heavy Jazz-Metal-Prog, a bit like Planet X. Their bassist is absolutely stunning. All their albums are good but a I have a soft spot for Slow Gin.
Talisma (Corpius, Chromium, Quelque Part) : Amazing instrumental band, influenced by Crimson and a lot of other things including world music. Considering they live about 30 km from my house, it's hard to get more "local" than this.

And let's not forget prog metal:
Augury (Conceiled) : Mixes brutal death metal, melodic and eclectic stuff altogether. Can't wait for their new album due out this year.
Martyr (Hopeless Hopes, Warp Zone, Feeding the Abcess) : Picture post-1991 Death, Atheist, Cynic and Voivod all rolled into one. Amazing band.
Moonlyght (Progressive Darkness, Shining): Mixed black metal, power metal, folk and prog elements. Great melodic band.
Sons of Nihil (Sons of Nihil, Unfolding Destiny) : Highly complex black metal with good production. Hard to get into at first but very rewarding.
Unexpect (Utopia, we_Invaders, In a flesh aquarium) : One of the most extreme and eclectic bands I know. Mixes every style of metal imaginable along with circus music, movie soundtracks, video game soundtracks and classical music.
Voivod (Killing Technology, Dimension Hatross, Nothingface, The Outer Limits) : The godfathers of Quebec metal. Most of their albums have thrash metal influences. The outer limits and Angel Rat are less thrash, more melodic and the most progressive. Nothingface and Dimension Hatross are prog metal classics.

We Have Los Jaivas and Congreso

Kind of a mix of symphonic prog and neo-classical metal (Yngwie Malmsteen)
Sibelius' myspace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=158344089

OT Räihälä wrote: I'm amazed that my fellow Finns are yet to mention Jeavestone, who to me are the most interesting new prog at the moment.

They're a band I'd like to get to know better, but for some reason have yet failed to do so. They've been getting such loud support on one certain Finnish prog forum, that it has aroused my interest

ProgressiveAttic wrote: Prog Rock in Venezuela: *Sibelius

I'm amazed that my fellow Finns are yet to mention Jeavestone, who to me are the most interesting new prog at the moment. 

Rapataz wrote: By the way, I am REALLY interested in any suggestion for a good german band of our days. Especially one with german lyrics (I can't think of any post-70's-Band)

I´d suggest:

EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN "Perpetuum Mobile". Although they started as the industrial music icon, their music is quite refined nowadays; I think this record is perfect to discover them because is very accessible and far from their noisy past

BACKSTREET ROMEOS "Flight to Metaluna": great psych band (but unfortunately for you, they sing in english)
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4103

LACRIMOSA "Elodia": a superb opera rock, in the goth tradition (dark, romantic, mysterious). I really like this band, and I suggest tthis record as their masterpiece. They have changed its sound several times: the beginnings were in a dark new wave sound ("Satura" is the best record from that era), they turned to a more metal sound ("Inferno" and "Stille", both are good albums). Finally, the sound turned (since the above mentioned "Elodia") into an operistic sound, playing with symphonic orchestra. I wonder what will be their next musical change. 
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1462

ANYONE´S DAUGHTER is a classic band that maybe you already know, but "Adonis" and "In Blau" are symphonic works worth to be discovered
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=22

RPWL is a modern band in the vein of the typical 80´s and 90´s revival. I´m not really fond of them, but I´ve seen them live and, despite not really being of my interest, you could probably enjoy them, because I don´t consider they´re bad musicians
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=298

By the way, I am REALLY interested in any suggestion for a good german band of our days. Especially one with german lyrics (I can't think of any post-70's-Band)