We all know the " Big Six" - Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, ELP & Jethro Tull.

Cue forum members to reply " The big six aren't my big six , (You know who you are ) 

Anyway here's your chance, who are your top six prog bands/artists that are not part of the so called "big six"? 

but what's being called the big 6 is only classic prog. 

Any kind of prog is even harder to choose 6 bands. 

Dream Theater

Steve Wilson/Porcupine Tree

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso 

PFM

Frank Zappa

Van Der Graaf Generator

Caravan

Camel

Renaissance

Magma

Genesis 

King Crimson

Caravan

Gentle Giant

Camel

Brand X

Mahavishnu Orchestra

Moody Blues

Return to Forever

Captain Beyond

....at least for today.

National Health

Soft Machine

Frank Zappa

Henry Cow

Area

Curved Air

Renaissance

Focus

Caravan

Camel

Argent

Gentle Giant

Camel

Opeth

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Wobbler

Kansas

Gentle Giant

Honorable Mentions:

Death

Van Der Graaf
Dream Theater

Rush (I consider them big 6 tbh)

Renaissance 

I guess after the universal "Big Six", I would put Gentle Giant, VdGG, Porcupine Tree, Camel, Frank Zappa and maybe Marillion as a "second-tier" Big Six, not that these qualifications matter even a pinch to anyone (or at least I hope they don't).

Would I like to see other bands being qualified for that "Big Six" thing? Absolutely - Opeth, the Mars Volta, UK, Caravan, Soft Machine, Gong, Steven Wilson solo, maybe even Riverside, IQ, why not also Arena.

There are so many bands I could include in my "Big Six" (since this is the topic), that I would prefer to enjoy them rather than bin them intro weird categories like "Big Six", "Throbbing Eleven", or "Unmatchable Twenty-Five".

You get my point.

08. Camel

09. Barclay James Harvest

10. Moody Blues

11. Procol Harum

12. Caravan (trailing behind again) 

Barclay James Harvest were part of my introduction to prog in the early 1970's, alongside Renaissance, Camel, Mike Oldfield, Procol Harum and the Moody Blues. The only exception in my "Big Six" list is Caravan, having not heard any of their albums or any other Canterbury Scene music before going online in 2010.

Amon Duul 2

Banco del Mutuo Soccorso

Ange

Just for starters ... since these were ORIGINALS instead of copies, as so many were. If anything, these folks did not have to show off their ability to create something special and totally out of tune with that "top six", who, in my estimation continue to be over rated when compared to a much larger set of musicians and players from around the world.

For that matter, though a bit later, someone like Ryuichi Sakamoto deserves to be mentioned ... from electronica, to soundtracks to experimental fun (Neo Geo/Heartbeat and Beauty ... 3 MUST HAVE ALBUMS FOR PROGRESSIVE FOLKS!!!) ... few people have that kind of talent that even got him an OSCAR ... and will make him be remembered long after all of us are gone ... nowadays he seems to be very classical and piano oriented but his work in the past is insane, and above all ... totally beautiful!

King Crimson

Pink Floyd

VDGG

Genesis

Gentle Giant

Yes

The Big Six in my record collection, outside of the Big Six:

Ange

Banco del mutuo soccorso

Eloy

Focus

Frank Zappa

Followed by the Little Six:

Grobschnitt

IQ

Pallas

Rush

Saga

Twelfth Night

 I have no problem with the original big 6 list... a second one for me 'might' be this...staying with 'classic prog rock'.

Moody Blues

Traffic

Strawbs

Gentle Giant

Camel

Caravan

That could almost be my list apart from Gentle Giant. They're the only band in your Big 6 that aren't on any of my A-Z prog playlists. 

 

classic prog:

Barclay James Harvest

Camel

Clannad

Eloy

Jade Warrior

Moody Blues

Mike Oldfield

Le Orme

Renaissance

Alan Stivell

prog after classic period

Albion

Anyone's Daughter

Il Castello di Atlante

Collage/Satellite/Believe/Mr Gil

Clepsydra

Corde Oblique

Midlake

Poor Genetic Material

Sagrado

Sangre de Muerdago

Van der Graaf Generator

Alquin

Rush

Camel

Traffic

(Pay attention: these are not my fave six prog band but those I consider the most important in the history of of prog)

objectively after the big six (correct as per the OP)

PFM (mainly for the first 3 albums but they are special)

Gentle Giant (innovation)

Van Der Graaf Generator (punk like emotion and for making the sax a 'real' instrument!)

Porcupine Tree (duh!)

Marillion (double duh!)

btw in terms of the original 'big six' , anyone not thinking that a band with Keith Emerson in is not in there is getting it totally wrong , opinion or no opinion. Include The Nice if you have to though!

I have a personal big 5, one of which (King Crimson) is in the "big 6". The others are:

Can - Art Zoyd - Talk Talk - Cardiacs.

To nominate a non-big-6-big-6 I've got to add two, and today that's

Amon Düül II, Porcupine Tree.

Can be different on another day (PT are really outsiders and are not normally that high up, but I listen to them a lot these days). Instead could have nominated Tangerine Dream, Swans, VDGG, Camel, Kate Bush, David Sylvian, Mike Oldfield,...

this would be the one that makes most sense, IMHO

Easy Money wrote: The Big Six Originals: The Nice The Doors The Jimi Hendrix Experience The Moody Blues Procol Harum Soft Machine

In terms of sales, the odd one out would be Oldfield (which could have been the big 7th during the 70's)

13. Mike Oldfield

14. Rick Wakeman

15. Mostly Autumn

16. Curved Air

17. Nektar

18. IQ

Hi,

WOW ... and such a deserved mention ... the show he did with his wife and their band (The rocket Scientists) still is, for me, the best performance and the most professional of all of them at the SF Progressive Music Festival in 1999.

Sadly, their work is not always mentioned and because he is from LA and not from London, he will forever be considered a minor Keith Emerson, when the comparison between the 2 is ridiculous ... to say the least, even though there are many who think there is a link. At the time, KE could not mix all the instruments he wanted to play, and later it became about the mixing and using of all of the instruments "together" and not just for what we consider a "solo" ... in many ways, Eric's work is less about the solo, than it is about its entirety and his ability to make sure that the keyboards ADD to the whole thing, instead of him showing off his skills. I don't see, neither did I feel when I talked to them, that this guy was merely playing out his keyboard tricks and licks he learned in school! One of the few at that, btw!

Outstanding player ... who deserves a lot more credit, and it is kinda sad to see that he and his wife (Lana Lane) have not done a bit more in the last 10 to 15 years ... she's not exactly a weak singer, and my only thoughts are that the words she sings need to be evaluated better and create better "poetry", though I imagine that it would change some of her abilities and inflections ... but in their show, she was as good an all the others.

One other detail ... the bass playing by Don Schiff ... a massive bass player that knows what he is doing and I think is better than Tony Levin and some of the others in the quartet and group of Stick players ... but I think that Don is more into the completeness of the music and its continuity than he is into the solo style of the others involved ... one of the saddest things in rock music, that the solo style is more important than the music itself ... I don't dislike the Stick Men ... but I would rather listen to Don Schiff and what he adds to the music in general ... which is excellent and a very important part of The Rocket Scientists.

Big 6 of Prog Metal:

Dream Theater

Opeth

Devin Townsend

Queensryche

Tool

Animals as Leaders

Big 6 more Classic acts:

Gentle Giant

Frank Zappa

Rush

Marillion

VDGG

Mahavishnu Orchestra

Just in terms of influence

My favorites not mentioned already:

Khan / Egg 

Ash Ra Tempel

Unexpect

Peter Gabriel solo

Mars Volta

Pain of Salvation

Steven Wilson/ Porcupine Tree

Spock's Beard

PFM

The Flower Kings

Dream Theater

(Apologies to Camel, Mike Oldfield, Renaissance, VDGG and Rush who are just as worthy)

Focus

Transatlantic

Neal Morse

Spock's Beard

Flower Kings

-The Pineapple Thief

-Riverside

-Phideaux

-Ayreon

-Gazpacho.

I’m intrigued, as I’ve never heard of a Big Five. Who was missed out? I’m assuming it was Jethro Tull, as they’ve always struck me as the “odd one out” in the Big Six. (Which is not to say I don’t like Tull, nor to say I don’t think they are prog. I do like them, and I do think they are.)

I've only heard of "the big 6" here on the PA forum, a couple of years ago. I thought it was because every genre had a "big 4" (a term the mainstream media used to promote the 4 big names of thrash at some point late 80s). Silly me!  It seems it (unfortunately) stuck with prog as well, big 5, big 6, big whatever... 

Yes, I’ve heard of a Big Four of prog (that excludes Floyd and Tull), and obviously a Big Six, too - but a Big Five is a new one for me, which is why I wonder who is missed out.

Big Four is definitely the norm. Almost every genre seems to have a Big Four that people argue over, and I definitely remember reading about the Big Four of prog in several different magazines back in the day. In fact, the first I ever read about the Big Four was in a magazine published probably before I was born, or soon after, that belonged to my uncle. I was staying with him for a couple of weeks, and he knew I was interested in music so dug out all his old magazines from the attic for me to read - and read them I did. But I am absolutely certain it was only the Big Four, because Genesis were the only band I knew from them at the time.

Yes, I think Ian Anderson's Jethro Tull only has one leg to stand on regarding being a member of the Big Six. 

I'm not quite sure why Genesis is some kind of slam dunk for whatever BIG #(choose a number). They only played prog for about 10 years and only sold albums once they started playing Motown show tunes.

I guess it's only YES then! 

As I said somewhere above, though, the first time I ever saw a mention of a Big Four was in a magazine that was probably published circa 1975, with the four being Genesis, KC, Yes and ELP. It probably didn’t use the term Big Four, though it might have. I imagine it was more something along the lines of Four Progressive Rock Giants or some such hyperbole. 🤷🏻‍♂️

But it was that article that first made me aware (in approx 1990, I think? 🤔) of the bands other than Genesis, who I already knew and liked.

Tell me how to look it up, and I will. If I Google big 5 prog and then Google big 4 prog, the 4 comes up with earlier hits than 5 (at least on the first two pages, as I looked no further than that). I’m not disputing you. I have no reason to. All I was giving was my anecdotal knowledge of only a big 4 and a big 6.

Yes

King Crimson

Gentle Giant

Pink Floyd

ELP

Genesis

Other contenders would be:

VDGG

Rush

Camel

Jethro Tull

Kansas

The Moody Blues

Magma

Cardiacs

Gong

Caravan

Univers Zero

Artists leading multiple projects that have consistently pushed sonic, creative, or performance boundaries:

I'd include Magma and maybe Can but it's music too different from classic prog. 

Amon Düül II

Can

Embryo

Gong

Magma

Van der Graaf Generator

By record sales, I would suggest the Big Six are:

Pink Floyd

Genesis

Yes

The Moody Blues

Jethro Tull

ELP

with King Crimson tagging along with their one gold album, which in itself is an achievement for a prog band. You might add Mike Oldfield as a consideration, because he's done quite well for himself.

Why I bring this up is that it takes a unique sort of band to have the level of creativity to be considered progressive, to compose important and widely recognized prog albums, and still be wildly popular on a global scale. 

I'd like to point out that Italy had a population of 54 million when "Pawn Hearts" reached the number one spot in the charts there. That's approximately the same as the population in the UK at that time (55.8 million).

Yes, I read that on Wiki. It's interesting that this bit of trivia is an anecdote from a book and not from chart listings. If you pull up a band's discography on Wiki, usually the chart listings for several countries pops up for each album. Do we know how long VdGG was rated #1? A day, a week, a month? I ask because elsewhere I pulled up the greatest selling albums in Italy, and several Floyd albums are on the list (like DSotM at 1.25 million copies, for instance), but VdGG is not listed.

In any case, Pawn Hearts was a commercial disaster in the UK, and from what I can ascertain didn't sell at all in the rest of Europe, the U.S. or Canada. Like the rest of their catalog.

From the Wikipedia entry to "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers": The album Pawn Hearts was not a success in the UK, but proved highly successful in Italy, topping the chart there for 12 weeks.

I think it reached number 1 in France too; I will check though.

ELP had several albums reaching the TOP 10 in both UK and USA, and they were the first prog band to gain big commercial success, they definitely belong in any Big Six. Especially since Moody Blues aren't really prog and Genesis didn't sold anywhere as much Yes/ELP/Tull when they were doing prog. Rush, well, are they really seen as a prog band? I think a lot of people that listen to Rush don't really know what prog is. They did have a prog era but also a pop era and a hard rock era. 

Mike Oldfield could be considered too (if we include solo artists). Tubular Bells was a massive hit, but he failed to replicate that after.

Sure. I can go with adding ELP back in and deleting The Moody Blues. Or Genesis for that matter. No Rush? I am okay with that as well. The exercise is merely pointing out that a "Big Six" should be....ummm....big. 

I think it's hilarious that folks want to include a band like Gentle Giant (who I enjoy) who lost their record contract because they couldn't sell an album free in a cereal box promotion (I kid, they did have some success with In a Glass House and The Power and the Glory), or VdGG who evidently had an album the Italians enjoyed but who simply had zero impact globally in their prime. You may love them on a personal basis, and think they are the bestest of the bestest at their little obscurant art-for-art's sake recordings, but to use as your motto "expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of becoming very unpopular" is contradictory, plainly stupid and self-defeating.

Again, it takes a peculiar and extremely rare talent to compose progressive, landmark albums that also are very successful on a global scale. Given there are thousands of progressive rock bands who operated over the last 50 years, but only 6 or 8 or 10 -- whatever magic number you wish to apply -- had a lasting impact and sold millions of albums. Those should be celebrated as they are obviously the rarest.

I agree with you, was just pointing out ELP did sell millions of albums and were succesfull in both sides of the pond so they do deserve to be in the Big X, whatever that amount is. I think VDGG is an excellent band but not big enough to be included there. I think the "canon" 6 is well deserved, Crimson didn't have commercial success in general, but their first album was successful and is maybe the most influential in the genre so they can be there. 

That's simply not true. Impact is not measured in sales alone. Many artists (who had big sales) have stated that they were deeply influenced by Van der Graaf Generator. Just because you dislike them doesn't justify spreading this nonsense.

This will be my one semi-coherent thought for this year. For the rest of the year it will be nothing but loads of gibberish.

Too funny. No, what's nonsense is imputing a level of importance to a second tier prog band that doesn't really apply. Whether I like them or not is neither here or there. I like Gentle Giant, but they are clearly a second tier prog band (and add in Caravan, Camel and the whole Canterbury choir). And you utterly ignore the point of what I was trying to get across in the entire inane process of arriving at a "Big Six". So, let's try this another way.

Rolling Stone magazine, another organization I thoroughly abhor, had a vote on the "Best Prog Rock Band". Thousands of votes and devoid of the usual RS sl*g.ing of prog rock in general. The results are generally what one would expect in a "Big Six" (or in this case "Big Ten"):

10. Dream Theater

9. Mars Volta

8. Tool

7. Emerson, Lake and Palmer

6. Yes

5. King Crimson

4. Jethro Tull

3. Genesis

2. Pink Floyd

1. Rush

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/readers-poll-the-best-prog-rock-bands-of-all-time-17276/3-genesis-12327/" rel="nofollow - https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/readers-poll-the-best-prog-rock-bands-of-all-time-17276/3-genesis-12327/

Granted, the poll took place in 2011, so I expect some movement up or down for the bands involved (I would expect Dream Theater and Mars Volta would drop out entirely), but it is what it is. 

The only thing that does not surprise me about this is seeing Rush at number one. Lately the drummer magazine made a poll who was the best drummer of all time. Neil Peart won.

After this they did a poll for best bass player. Geddy Lee won, putting Jaco Pastorius (!) in 2nd place.

When they do a poll for best guitar player next I am certain Alex Lifeson will win.

And you are completely correct in perceiving the lack of coherency in the vox populi and their nearsightedness in comprehending transcendent talent. Personally, Rush would not be among my top ten as far as progressive rock. But they were a prog rock band for a decent portion of their career, and they are immensely popular and influential; ergo, from an objective standpoint they would be included in a Big Six.

Grumpyprogfan wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Lately the drummer magazine made a poll who was the best drummer of all time. Neil Peart won. Could you share the name of this drummer magazine?

I wanted to write "music magazine". It was Music Radar.

So basically, we need that guy from Money Ball... except for prog...