 leifthewarrior wrote:
I, sadly got caught up in the piece of crap grunge & punk rock scene... burned every last piece of crap nirvana album and punk albums i owned. |
Oh punk and Nirvana are worthy. Just in different ways.
Any ways, here it goes. I'll do the reverse trick like you so that everyone can be SHOCKED AND SURPRISED when they hit the top 1. I'll give a brief reason why.
10. Rush (has offered a lot of variety, great songs, and amazing playing over the years. however, they're very inconsistent even within a single album)
9. VDGG (a band I really admire for their intensity. They are also a band I have to be in a mood for. When I am, I'll listen to everything they have in days. When I'm not, one Hammill scream will send me for the hills)
8. Kate Bush (beautiful songwriter and wonderful singer, her complex and wonderful songs thrill me everytime I hear them. She hasn't made a bad album. However, she's a bit of a "in the right mood" kind of artist as well, or otherwise she'd be higher. When I'm in the mood, she's like number 3)
7. Can (the best krautrock I've ever heard, bar maybe a few Neu!, Kraftwerk, Amon Duul, and Cluster songs. Can basically created the alternative scene. A few points off for going to kind of bland later in their career.)
6. ELP (I really love the chops of this band. Each player is quite incredible, and they were always dazzling on their classic albums. However, when they stopped making good music it wasn't a slow and steady decline. It was a complete and utter stop into crapsville from which they never returned: later in their career, Keith used a keytar. A keytar!)
5. Jethro Tull (In their classic period, from their first album to, in my opinion, Broadsword and the Beast, they created one of the most exciting, credible, and diverse fusions of rock, classical, folk, jazz, blues, and anything else Ian and the gang could throw into the mix. Created my favorite prog album, Thick As A Brick. However, after Thick, they became a bit uneven, if still great. After Broadsword, they completely lost it with garbage like Crest of a Knave and Rock Island. Only somewhat coming out of the haze with great solo albums and the solid J-Tull.com)
4. Mike Oldfield (here because of his consistency, pre suckage, and for his audacity. Tubular Bells was really unprecedented and exciting. Playing all of the instruments was insane, and he has done this on so many albums that it's incredible. He was also one of the most succesful prog musicians to integrate pop music into his style. Albums like QE2, Crisis, and Discovery really solidfied him as a pop songwriter. However, a few bad pop albums,f ollowed by his last true classic, Amarok, drifting into endless sequels and a fixation on computer games and chill out music that leaves me cold)
3. Yes (The originator of the classic ideal of prog. Crimson may have made the mold, but Yes arguably went the furthest with it. Some would argue too far, with Tales and even Relayer, but these albums pushed rock composing and playing into areas so far and new that they almost cease being rock. Their classic albums, from the debut up to Drama, excluding Tormato, really put the rock in prog. Making an 80's rock come back brought them new fans, but lost them many old ones. 90125 is strong, Big Generator spotty and flawed, Onion awful. However, I think they have maintained a decent quality following Rabin's swan song with Talk, and the loathed but enjoyable Open Your Eyes. The Ladder and Magnification are credible and fun swan song albums.
2. Genesis (not the first. not the most technical. not the most respected after their switch to more pop oriented directions. however, they were arguably the best prog band, barring my number one pick. Each member of this band has turned out a viable and semi-succesful solo career. Anthony Phillips has made some beautiful folk and electronic music and continues to make enjoyable solo albums. Steve Hackett has maintained a highly respected, if commercially unsuccesful career. Peter Gabriel turned his time in Genesis into a highly innovative and influential solo career. Phil Collins success is obvious. Mike had a few quirky solo albums and pop success with the Mechanics. Tony Banks never really had a big solo hit, but he has made some enjoyable solo albums. However, together they were at their best. Each member contributed vital songwriting moments to their catalog and unlike many prog bands they truly put songwriting before playing. After losing two key members, the three musicians left went on to make a credible and, in my opinion, artistic turn around and helped create innovate and create a new subgenre with art synth pop. They lose it a bit at the end by emphasising too much pop and failed with their last album. However, I consider their evolution to be organic, natural, and even rewarding. A great prog band.)
1. King Crimson (This one barely needs explanation. Prog got it's first masterpiece with it's perfect representation, In The Court. Although many members here seem to prefer the follow up, I'll always prefer this nearly perfect album. However, Crimson was always changing. This has something to do with the constantly changing members, but it also has to do with the restless nature of Robert Fripp, one of the most respectable musicians in the prog arena. Besides being an excellent guitarist, he is a great arranger and composer. He pushed early Crimson through some very experimental jazz and classical fusions before re-emerging with the Lark's line-up and merging metal and jazz in an unprecedented way. Leaving the scene when it became obvious prog was dying (Robert was the first progger to notice and react in this way) he did some great experimentation with Eno and absorbed the later new wave and punk tendencies and re-emerged with a new Crimson that could easily compete artistically and creatively with any new wave band, and probably beats most. After this style died, Robert disappeared and started his series of enjoyable Soundscape albums. His League of Gentlemen group is a guitar players dream, as is his League of Extraordinary Guitarists. These albums present a restless Robert pursuing new arenas of expression. In the 90's, Robert and the gang (mostly unchanged, surprisingly) absorbed modern electronic elements and modern prog metal tendencies and popped out with three albums of high quality, incredibly technical, and surprisingly innovative and contemporary albums. This ability to change with the times in such a credible and seamless fashion makes this band, and this man, the best in prog.)
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My Top 10 Prog rock bands
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