Bands that got better and better - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Hard for me to think of too many, it's more a case of reaching a level of consistency and then maintaining it over an extended period. These may qualify

Nik Bartsch Ronin

Henry Cow

Led Bib

Vezhlivy Otkaz

Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/

As an artist, the closest I can think of with a sizable career is David Bowie. I like the debut, but it is commonly low rated (maybe not the lowest studio, that might be Never Let Me Down, which I haven't heard), and sure some 70s albums might commonly be considered better than Blackstar, but for me Blackstar is an awesome album, and the one of his that I have been most obsessed with of his since it came out. And yes, this topic is in the Prog section, but to me David Bowie is a kind Crossover Art Rock Prog for plenty of material to make his considerable for a Progressive Music lounge forum.

That's a tough question. I think almost all musicians or composers have had ups and downs. Very often, musicians become increasingly mature over a period of time, and then they top, after which their output is of mixed quality.

If we allow the world of classical music into this discussion, I would mention Mozart as a composer whose work simply became better and better. Just hold his earliest child compositions up against Die Zauberflöte...

Edited by The Anders - August 26 2021 at 16:22

someone_else wrote:

Anekdoten.

they have even ratings over the 6 studio albums although the last is certainly the highest rated on PA and also has 300ish more ratings than most of the others so that has a strong case for being the best , however there are no clear worst ones. A lot of the big Swedish prog acts of the 90's onwards were very strong at the outset. They seemed to have their identity well set and managed to avoid a 'finding themselves' early period that many prog bands require.

^That's interesting. A Japanese friend gave me some of their earlier stuff and I didn't like most of it. It did include Super ae, which was clearly better than the others, but didn't make me explore their later work. Half way through the one you linked now, it's cool!

richardh wrote:

someone_else wrote:

Anekdoten.

they have even ratings over the 6 studio albums although the last is certainly the highest rated on PA and also has 300ish more ratings than most of the others so that has a strong case for being the best , however there are no clear worst ones. A lot of the big Swedish prog acts of the 90's onwards were very strong at the outset. They seemed to have their identity well set and managed to avoid a 'finding themselves' early period that many prog bands require.

I fully agree that Anekdoten don't have any clear worst albums: all are 4* and up in my book. But there is an ascending line (imho of course) in Gravity - A Time of Day - Until All the Ghosts Are Gone.

I'd argue GORGUTS, and I know 9/10 of PA hasn't heard a single track lol.

"I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021

I'll have to go IQ here. Tales from the Lush Attic is a pretty good album but their last three over thirty years after their debut album are so much better than the debut one.

Logan wrote:

As an artist, the closest I can think of with a sizable career is David Bowie. I like the debut, but it is commonly low rated (maybe not the lowest studio, that might be Never Let Me Down, which I haven't heard), and sure some 70s albums might commonly be considered better than Blackstar, but for me Blackstar is an awesome album, and the one of his that I have been most obsessed with of his since it came out. And yes, this topic is in the Prog section, but to me David Bowie is a kind Crossover Art Rock Prog for plenty of material to make his considerable for a Progressive Music lounge forum.

Bowie was the first person to spring to my mind when I read the OP. I own every one of his albums, and while his discography is not a straightforward upward pattern, the debut is easily his least impressive album, and Blackstar easily his most impressive. Blackstar is not just an impressive final album for Bowie, but one of the most impressive final albums of any artist, ever. (And, regardless of how Bowie is labelled in PA, his music is prog to me.)

Reviewer for The Progressive Aspect

richardh wrote:

iluvmarillion wrote:

I'll have to go IQ here. Tales from the Lush Attic is a pretty good album but their last three over thirty years after their debut album are so much better than the debut one.

although for 1983 it was actually amazing but now is very dated. The last album could well be their best in all round aspects (performance, production and great songs). Good shout!

IQ have been remarkably consistent from the beginning, with not a bad album anywhere, but for me Resistance is still a disappointment and bucks their trend....