What was the best year for prog?

1973 for me. The year of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, Renaissance' Ashes Are Burning and Genesis' Selling England by the Pound, to name just three. 

For me it has to be 1972 - the year of two of the most iconic prog albums of all time - TAAB and CTTE.

1973 would be a close second with the aforementioned Tubular Bells, and DSotM of course, amongst other notable prog works.

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: LaMort wrote: 1972.  Thick as a Brick - JETHRO TULL Close to the Edge & Roundabout (single) - YES YS - THE BRONZE BALLET Foxtrot - GENESIS YS? You mean the album by Il Balletto Di Bronzo? I agree. That's a great album.

Psychedelic Paul wrote: 1973 for me. The year of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, Renaissance' Ashes Are Burning and Genesis' Selling England by the Pound, to name just three.

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: No one later year seems to stand out though.

...

1980

Art Zoyd – Génération Sans Futur
Jeff Beck – There and Back
Blue Öyster Cult – Cultösaurus Erectus
Brand X – Do They Hurt?
Al Di Meola – Splendido Hotel
Ashra – Belle Alliance
Bruford – Gradually Going Tornado
Dixie Dregs – Dregs of the Earth
Eloy – Colours
Keith Emerson – Inferno
Gamma – Gamma 2
Gandalf – Journey to an Imaginary Land
Genesis – Duke
Goblin – Contamination
Group 87 – Group 87
Steve Hackett – Defector
Hawkwind – Levitation
Jethro Tull – A
David Earle Johnson with Jan Hammer – Hip Address
Kansas – Audio-Visions
Kenso – Kenso
Kerry Livgren – Seeds of Change
Kitaro – In Person
Irene Papas | Vangelis – Odes
Anthony Phillips – 1984
Richard Pinhas – East West
Didier Lockwood – Live in Montreux
Jean-Luc Ponty – Civilized Evil
Rush – Permanent Waves
Saga – Silent Knight
Carlos Santana – The Swing of Delight
Robert Schroeder – Floating Music
Klaus Schulze – ...Live...
Sky – Sky 2
Tangerine Dream – Tangram
Yes – Drama

*Führs & Frohling – Live 1980 (released 2001)


1981

Blue Öyster Cult – Fire of Unknown Origin
Fabio Frizzi – The Beyond
King Crimson – Discipline
Di Meola / McLaughlin / De Lucia – Friday Night in San Francisco
Dregs – Unsung Heroes
Eloy – Planets
Gandalf – Visions
Hawkwind – Sonic Attack
Michael Hedges – Breakfast in the Field
However – Sudden Dusk
Jean-Michel Jarre – Magnetic Fields
Yoshiaki Masuo with Jan Hammer – Finger Dancing
Vangelis – Chariots of Fire
Rush – Moving Pictures
Saga – Worlds Apart
Robert Schroeder – Mosaique
Synergy – Audion
Tangerine Dream – Exit
Tangerine Dream – Thief
Twelfth Night – Live at the Target
Richard Wahnfried – Tonwelle
Rick Wakeman – The Burning
Rick Wakeman – 1984
Frank Zappa – Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar

I'm going to go with 1974. Having said that, some of the more recent years (from 2018 onward) I feel rival the early 1970s. I just can't decide which one is best. My stomach came with an optional concrete infrastructure research database which I have yet to use.

1971 is the single greatest year for rock music, prog or otherwise. Studio releases, Prog/Prog adjacent in order of release:

Edited by The Dark Elf - September 12 2024 at 18:36

Dark Elf, you left off ELP's Tarkus. Was that intentional? I see Nursery Cryme by Genesis is absent also. 

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - September 12 2024 at 18:32

^Oh ok. Not sure how I missed Nursery Cryme then. I know a lot of people don't like the "thin" production on it but I've never really noticed that much (same with Going for the One which people complain about).