What not prog band would've made the best prog?

Van Halen

I think this might apply to Orchestral Maneouvers in the Dark also. Albums like "Architecture and Morality" came very close to being considered prog. 

OMD eventually ended up traveling down the "radio freindly" route like so many others of that era, like Simple Minds as well as The Thomson Twins. 

Alice in Chains

Screaming Trees

Soundgarden

Sunny Day Real Estate

Following on from that, the same could be said for some of the “Brit-Pop” bands. Again, people are often familiar only with the singles that gained the most airplay, which are often not truly representative of what the bands are capable of. I always loved Suede, but thought Blur weren’t for me, until someone “made” me listen to their albums. When I finally did, I realised what I had been missing. I’m still not much of a fan of many of their singles, but I love almost all of their albums (their debut has never grabbed me, but they hadn’t yet found their own sound, and weee still following the “baggy” trend of the successful British bands of the day). Suede’s last two albums have been very highly praised by several prog sites, as they reassess a band they once dismissed.

For me, Suede and Blur are no more or less prog than Radiohead and Mansun. Pulp are nowhere near as prog-ready as the aforementioned three, but I definitely think Jarvis could write some first rate prog if he felt like it. There’s enough eclecticism and experimentation in Pulp’s sound to make me believe that, even if it’s not used in a prog manner, it could be if they were so inclined.

Back to America, and in a similar vein to the “Britpop” bands, Garbage could probably make a prog album. They haven’t come close, but they could do it, I’m sure. Then there are artists like Doug Martsch (Built to Spill) and Mark Eitzel (solo/American Music Club), who could probably easily write an intriguing and enjoyable prog album. They aren’t prog by any stretch of the imagination - but they could be!

On the other hand, Extreme came close (and some would probably argue that they are prog), but perhaps stayed too close to the accessible and mainstream for a lot of people to consider them prog. (They’re definitely more prog to me than something like Asia.) Keeping in that metal zone, the much reviled Guns n’ Roses could do prog, if they all wanted to, but while some of their members tend towards the grandiose and bombastic, others like to K.I.S.S. Jane’s Addiction is another band that could have gone full-on prog, if they felt like it.

Across the border, bands like I Mother Earth and Our Lady Peace prog pretty much as The Tea Party. One of them is here, while the other two aren’t. They’re all about as prog as each other to me. Maybe even Moist, at a push. They’re not so obviously capable of prog (to me), but David Usher’s solo albums show a greater variety of sounds, so I don’t think it’s an impossibility to think Moist could make a decent fist of a prog album. Perhaps I might add .moneen. to this list.

Just like “grunge”, there are a lot of “nu-metal” bands that could easily be prog. Some are almost “prog-ready” and some are nothing like it - but definitely show signs that they could be. Bands like Faith No More, Korn and System of a Down.

Finally, in the vein of Bowie, I think Iggy Pop and Lou Reed could easily be prog if they felt like going fully in that direction.

I haven’t read any posts on this thread before commenting, so I suspect that several (possibly even all?) of the bands I’ve suggested here, may already have been suggested.  In fact, I even hope that is the case, because that means some people share my thoughts.

(I could definitely add more bands and artists, but I’m aware of how long this post is already. And I’ve also deliberately left out some artists in each of the above “categories”, to see if anyone says “what about….?”)

I’ve always equated the Enz with Genesis and Queen. All three are no more or less prog to me than the others. All three were more overtly prog in their early years/albums (generally in the ‘70s) even during their more mainstream and accessible “pop” years (generally in the ‘80s), there was still plenty of prog still there. It was merely less obvious, and all three have had their later work compared unfavourably with their earlier work because of it. Conversely, all of them had far greater commercial success with their less overtly prog sound - although Queen and the Enz did fare better on the charts with their earlier material than Genesis.

Not by me. They were one of the “what about…” bands I deliberately left out, to see if someone would bite. I originally had them listed, but figured it would be more fun to leave them out.

I absolutely, totally, definitely believe PJ could make an excellent prog album. It may not have been apparent with Ten, but subsequent albums have shown it is easily within their capabilities. (My favourite PJ albums, by the way, are Riot Act and Binaural.)

I also looked back, and realised I have contributed to this thread more than I thought. I seem to have posts on every page, and had already suggested Blur (along with Duran Duran, Lorde, and others….)

I’ve not heard it yet, but it’s only because there’s been so much good music that I haven’t had time. Given there’s not a PJ album I don’t like, I know I will like Gigatron, too.

What’s your favourite PJ off-shoot? There are so many (and several which are rather proggy), but my favourite is probably Stone Gossard’s “Bayleaf” album.

I havn't had that much to do with any off-shoots, except maybe "Mad Season", which Mike McCready was part of.

The only other thing that comes to mind is Eddie Vedders soundtrack to "Into the Wild".

Eddie Vedders "Long Road" is one of my favorite songs also.

Their first two albums, particularly their debut "Steamboat Annie" had very definite prog leanings and at times even sound like a proto Nightwish without the bombast.