Hi all!

My first appreciations of prog rock (and related flavors such as space rock and electronic rock) started in the late 70's. My very first album I ever bought was not quite that (Live and let live by 10cc); my second album was Starlight Dancer from the Dutch band Kayak, which I still find superb. Nevertheless, unconsciously I already had something with prog rock much earlier when listening to the radio as a little kid and hearing the great songs of another Dutch band Earth and Fire. Things really got crazy when I bought Seconds out by Genesis, one of my all time favorites (in my top 10 for sure), soon followed by buying other Genesis albums. Then came Marillion and other British contenders (Pallas, UK, IQ, Pendragon, Asia, GTR, Hackett solo) to fill up the gap that Genesis and others left behind when they converted to pop music. In the early 80's I built out my prog rock album collection, primarily British and German bands. Yes, there were some North American highlights for me too, such Saga and Rush (both Canadian!), Foreigner, Toto and even some of Styx, Angel and Journey I could appreciate. A special page in my history is held by German prog rock bands. My top 3 are Eloy, Grobschnitt and Novalis. Sommerabend from Novalis, Silent Cries Mighty Echoes from Eloy and Solar Music Live from Grobschnitt are in my top 10. Finally, not at the very top of my list, but some Italian bands I like very much, in particular PFM, they are so awesome. And finally, not quite prog rock, but Tangerine Dream is high up in my musical past and memories, especially the albums with Johannes Schmoelling.