Were the Moody Blues ever a true prog band?

The early progressive bands and the genre itself became true prog with the arrival of ITCOTCK. THerefore I voted for "yes but only in the early days before KC." After that KC changed the game as to what was considered real prog. 

I am wondering how anyone could argue against the Moody's progressiveness? DoFP is both conceptual and symphonic with repeating themes echoed between the orchestra and the band for the lenght of the album - a thing virtually unheard of in 1960s rock. And then there is the song cycle "Are You Sitting Comfortably"/"The Dream"/"Have You Heard" (Pt 1)/"The Voyage"/Have You Heard" (Pt 2) from Threshold of a Dream. Mike Pinder's mellotron composition is fantastic, and there is nothing better from that era mellotron-wise this side of In the Court of the Crimson King. Or "House of Four Doors"/"Legend of a Mind"/"House of Four Doors (Pt2) from In Search of the Lost Chord. Why is this even a question?

^ If Mike Oldfield isn't prog, nothing is.

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Kati wrote: I do believe they were, obviously not all tracks for instance like in nights in white satin it's not it's a rock ballad, but many others where i.e. Tuesday Afternoon, You and Me, Lengend of Mind (reminds me so much of The Beatles)  and especially Melancholy Man just because they were easy listening doesn't mean they were not prog :)

I would argue that Nights In White Satin is more progressive than the average rock ballad, it has much more sophisticated instrumentation and quite a bit more drawn out themes which makes me see it as rather progressive
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Yes. That's a great stupid question.

Dellinger wrote: By the way, I do believe this genre we love so much would have done better being called "art rock" instead of "prog rock", or progressive, or whatever.

I don't think so.  "Art rock" is obviously a very vague and malleable term (it's been used to mean all sorts of things) but it's helpful in my mind to distinguish between "art rock," which attempts to move beyond the entertainment-focused aspect of rock and incorporate more sophisticated qualities, and "prog rock," which often does the same thing but specifically focuses on the fusing of different genres (especially the fusion of rock genres with non-rock musical forms) and musical complexity.

Dellinger wrote: How can they be a fake prog band, if they released their "fake" prog album(s) before prog even existed. You can't fake something that doesn't exist yet.

It was just a poor joke, I have no idea what "true" progressive rock is. Do you have to get a certificate or get assayed?

I also have no idea what the difference is between art rock and "true" progressive rock.


Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - January 29 2013 at 20:56

I do believe they were, obviously not all tracks for instance like in nights in white satin it's not it's a rock ballad, but many others where i.e. Tuesday Afternoon, You and Me, Lengend of Mind (reminds me so much of The Beatles)  and especially Melancholy Man just because they were easy listening doesn't mean they were not prog :)

I must get Days of future past soon.

I just don't see how anyone could listen to Days Of Future Passed, finish it, and walk away thinking "nah, not progressive."