1st Prog album?

yargh wrote: Logos wrote: There is of course Zappa with his Freak Out! at 1966, and although whether that one is prog or not is highly questionable, Uncle Frank was surely ahead of his time. The album is mind blowing and it even has an epic! Absolutely Free is a good candidate for first prog album.  Pretty much all the elements are there and it predates Sgt. Pepper (recorded November 1966), but goes beyond Freak Out.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to say it was Absolutely Free

Mothers of Invention "Absolutely Free" is probably the first prog album.  It should also be considered the first concept album.

Hard to pin point one, but I personally think it was quite some time prior to 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' myself. This was perhaps an early consolidation of themes found in early albums, such as;

John Coltrane- A Love Supreme (a very early concept album, with such depth, continuity and commitment it's hard for me to just plainly label it 'jazz')

Graham Bond Organisation- The Sound Of '65 ( an early attempt at jazz/ blues rock)

Joe Harriott/ John Mayer- Indo Jazz Fusions 1 and 2 (could be wrong about this, but this is certainly the first time I've seen the word 'fusion' crop up on an album- again, it's musically highly developed, and fusions of different styles was surely the whole purpose of prog, initially?)

The Yardbirds- Roger The Engineer (a pioneering album, and hugely varied, with psych pop, blues rock, gregorian chants, guitar instrumentals and even a jazz influence creeps in Jeff Beck's wild guitar work)

The Who- A Quick One, While He's Away (not a prog album as such, but features a very early attempt at a song suite in the title track)

Frank Zappa- Freak Out!/ Absolutely Free/ ...Money/Lumpy Gravy (took hugely uncommercial music and themes into mainstream rock/pop)

The Beatles- Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper (hugely revolutionary, as they feature a band experimenting with a myriad of genres and utilising new production methods)

Vanilla Fudge- s/t (hugely influential, as it saw a band taking pop songs and creating something extremely new and challenging with them)

The Zombies- Oddesey And Oracle (arguably took the 'pop' three minute song idea to its maximum, with huge intricacy, brilliant themes, plus swathes of mellotron and pseudo classical themes)

Nirvana- The Story Of Simon Simopath/ The Pretty Things- SF Sorrow (both were hugely pioneering, as they had an ongoing story throughout a whole album)

Genesis- From Genesis To Revelation (more revolutionary than you'd imagine, with intricate song arrangements and a clear concept)

Touch- s/t (features some of the longest songs on an album up to that point, with much intricacy and musical experimentation)

I'm not going to pick just one album from these, yet I feel all of these (from 1964-68) feature traits that would soon be apparent in prog rock.

Logos wrote: There is of course Zappa with his Freak Out! at 1966, and although whether that one is prog or not is highly questionable, Uncle Frank was surely ahead of his time. The album is mind blowing and it even has an epic!

Absolutely Free is a good candidate for first prog album.  Pretty much all the elements are there and it predates Sgt. Pepper (recorded November 1966), but goes beyond Freak Out.

There is of course Zappa with his Freak Out! at 1966, and although whether that one is prog or not is highly questionable, Uncle Frank was surely ahead of his time. The album is mind blowing and it even has an epic!

There some records before  'in the court..' that have prog elements, like sgt peppers, the nice records, early moody blues records, and some others... but the real first album that all in itself can be called 'progressive' its ;in the court of the crimson king' no doubt about it. they didnt open the door, but  theyd teach how to cross on throug...

sorry about my creppy english.