Best 10 Years

 

1967-1977

!967-1977 is 11 years. I'll cut it to 1967-1976.

1967 - 1976

I myself would have to go with '65-'74. Starting with The Beatles' Rubber Soul along with The Beach Boys Pet Sounds moving right along up to what I think was prog's peak in '74 with Yes' Relayer, KC's Red, ELP still going strong with BSS and Genesis' Selling England.


After that, things kind of leveled-off. All the above mentioned prog kings more or less went on hiatus. Not that there weren't still good moments, though. Camel was still going strong as well as Tull. And Renaissance was still riding high too. Fusion was getting more popular, but not to all proggers. Then we had was what I called a musical accident called DISCO! Then everything went backwards with punk and new wave, which was really not a bad thing. I have to admit, it was somewhat a breath of fresh air.

The 80s to me was just another early 60s with a saturation of one-hit wonders coming and going. Although of course there were some good artists to emerge out of that decade like U2, Pretenders and a few others. And our prog hereos KC managed to re-invent themselves and stay prog while Genesis and Yes sold out.

The 90s was somewhat of a comeback for creativity. Prog was starting to move again with new groups like Spock's Beard. Heavy Metal was now coined with a new name Grunge, but still Metal IMO. And women were becoming more dominant with veteran Bonnie Raitt leading the charge with her mega-hit comeback CD Nick of Time. New ladies were popping-up, most notably Sheryl Crowe and Alanis Morrisette.


As for now and the future, who can tell what will happen with rock. Heroes of us boomers are now going into their 60s. We're now down to the Fab Two. Clapton, as durable as he is, has pretty much retired from touring. Same with Dylan. Old proggers like Yes and KC still doing pretty good but not really coming up with anything all that new.


All and all, it basically comes down now to the younger artists. And I have to say I'm somewhat optimistic. Most of these new artists are showing how influenced they are by the earlier legends without copy-catting. And that is certainly a good thing.


In closing, it is my opinion that the '65-'74 period was the most adventurous and exploratory period in rock and I don't think it will happen again. Thanks.

1968-1978.

70's naturally, ain't it obvious (in PROG archives)? But I've always thought it the same way as Possessed: '67-'76 is the best era of ten years.

in my opinion the best years for rock (no matter prog or hard or classic) were the 1969-1979 and for metal were the years froom 1978-1988.

Welcome to the 70s mate, I hope you enjoy your stay; it's gonna be taz!

I'm utterly blown away and surprised to see the 70's cited as the most creative decade in rock history. On a prog rock forum. Who would have believed that?!!