What was the best year for prog?

Who the heck told you that? What is your source (re no good synths before mid 74)?

Hundreds of prog songs/albums I've dissected and to which I've listened. Keep in mind, that I'm not limiting myself to the 1st world commonwealth regions (a very popular tendency on prog forums). Whether synth usage before '74 was sonically advanced or not is arguable, but you can still easily see that it wasn't internationally widespread and thus a lot of non-commonwealth prog bands either wasn't equipped with the state of the art gear or didn't have a keyboardist/producer with enough experience to really give those synths the proper polish in the mix.

one of the best sounding albums ever made came out in the 60s. Can you guess which one?

I didn't say that in the 60s every album sounded like dogturds. What I mean is that high fidelity recording techniques and richer synthesizer rigs had become more commonplace by the mid-late 70s.

And yes, determining hi-fi vs lo-fi is very subjective.

I voted 1973 because, within the greater tapestry of progressive music, from "Tubular Bells" to "Birds of Fire," that year stands out as a veritable zenith, where its most illustrious bands reached their creative apogee and progressive music gained commercial exposure without sacrificing its artistic sensibility. Both their vast artistic approaches and the improvements in recording technique contributed to the 1973 albums' superb sound quality.

1973.  King Crimson's "Larks Tongues in Aspic" seals the deal for me.  

I consider 2023 the greatest prog year since the 70s...with a 73 sweet spot.  Don't get me wrong, 2023 does not top the 71-74 period.  

Edited by omphaloskepsis - September 19 2024 at 09:04

For synths I've never heard anything better than Gary Numan's Replicas album (1979) and also the single Cars by him. I've also always preferred the synths sounds that Vangelis and Tangerine Dream were getting around 1977-1983 more than any other era. The theme music for Stranger Things was also a nod to that era I think.

^indeed

Hrychu wrote: Well, aside from the statistics, I still think the best period for prog in the so called classic era, strictly production-wise was 1975-1981 due to the advancement in synthesizers and recording technology. No longer was quality of the majority of recorded music (especially outside of the UK and US) brought down by the gritty "undercoked" sonics. From that point on, albums would sound much more defined and fat. In addition to that, a lot of prog bands had gotten equipped with new syntheziers, which resulted in richer and more colorful arrangements (take Rush or Kaipa for example).

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: David_D wrote: There have been many subjective answers here, but I have certainly the impression that the OP is asking for some more objective ones, meaning, not just based on personal tastes and preferences. I think it would be near impossible to not take personal tastes into consideration when deciding what is the best year. Of course ultimately it's subjective. That said, you are right in that one should try to be as objective as possible. So even if tales from topographic oceans is your favorite Yes album but you don't think it's their best and you think The Yes Album or Close to the Edge is then vote for the year that corresponds to that album. Then of course you would have to factor in albums from other bands as well.

Edited by David_D - September 13 2024 at 13:33