Top 100 Prog Artists

^You're right. There's especially blurry lines when we talk about the distinction between heavy prog and prog metal. This site has Haken as heavy prog and Riverside as prog metal where if anything it should be the other way around. At some point some prog bands started to put metal in their- prog without being prog metal (and it's hard to say when it started -although a band I mention a bit on here called Mastermind might have been one of the first - not counting someone like King Crimson) . Even back in the 70s there was a blur between hard rock and metal and I have read that Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and Kiss were all considered heavy metal back then (probably Van Halen too). 

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - August 12 2023 at 12:52

Wow. Great job and great list! I don't agree with everything 100 percent but then again it's not your list of personal favorites anyway (although I'm sure you like a lot as do I). I'm not really much into prog metal but being how popular it seems to be you can't really not include it. Anyway, thanks for doing it. 

Metal has to be waaay bigger than prog. Yes Cristi, depends where you live, but Spotify ain’t wrong on this overall….

^ metal a niche genre? No way. It's always been more popular than prog. It never stopped being popular since the 1980s. Metallica's Black Album has sold over 35 million copies! No prog band can even come close.

David_D wrote: I guess Camel is in general higher rated today, while ELP was without doubt a much greater pioneer of Progressive Rock.  I still find them to be greater Prog than Camel, even I love The Snow Goose.

Frets N Worries wrote: siLLy puPPy wrote: richardh wrote: siLLy puPPy wrote: richardh wrote: My usual cut and paste comment is ELP too low and Camel too high but no problem with Crimson top. WIthout trying to study it in great length I did specifically look for Anathema. Weather Systems on it's own would put then in my top 100, the last four together is enough for my top 50 and the whole catalogue easily makes them a top 20 prog artist of all time. Entirely subjective but they have brought something new to the table in my opinion, not just 'copy and paste' (like my comments)! I considered the ELP and Camel thing. The truth is ELP's popularity has declined significantly since their heyday. Only the debut album has ranked well. If they weren't so innovative and important to history they probably would've been ranked lower. I used to feel the same about Camel but they really got under my skin in the last few years. Too high? Possibly but their popularity seems to have increased in the last few decades and their first four albums are just divine. And you're right about Anathema. Added to tag on list at the end. Is that ''popularity'' on here or in general? I suspect that ELP reissues sell as well as Camel although I havent looked into it. ELP albums don't get great ratings mainly because they were too inconsistent. I've been over this many times and I think the 'rules' about judging progressive rock should be more about innovation as much as consistency. I do like early Camel although after Moonmadness I stop caring tbh. Both here and in general. Simply seems that ELP hasn't resonated with newer generations the way Camel has. I agree. I only really love the first four Camel albums and then they're just meh. As part of Gen Z, I love ELP WAY more than Camel.

siLLy puPPy wrote: richardh wrote: siLLy puPPy wrote: richardh wrote: My usual cut and paste comment is ELP too low and Camel too high but no problem with Crimson top. WIthout trying to study it in great length I did specifically look for Anathema. Weather Systems on it's own would put then in my top 100, the last four together is enough for my top 50 and the whole catalogue easily makes them a top 20 prog artist of all time. Entirely subjective but they have brought something new to the table in my opinion, not just 'copy and paste' (like my comments)! I considered the ELP and Camel thing. The truth is ELP's popularity has declined significantly since their heyday. Only the debut album has ranked well. If they weren't so innovative and important to history they probably would've been ranked lower. I used to feel the same about Camel but they really got under my skin in the last few years. Too high? Possibly but their popularity seems to have increased in the last few decades and their first four albums are just divine. And you're right about Anathema. Added to tag on list at the end. Is that ''popularity'' on here or in general? I suspect that ELP reissues sell as well as Camel although I havent looked into it. ELP albums don't get great ratings mainly because they were too inconsistent. I've been over this many times and I think the 'rules' about judging progressive rock should be more about innovation as much as consistency. I do like early Camel although after Moonmadness I stop caring tbh. Both here and in general. Simply seems that ELP hasn't resonated with newer generations the way Camel has. I agree. I only really love the first four Camel albums and then they're just meh.

As part of Gen Z, I love ELP WAY more than Camel.