Most important band in building prog

ZowieZiggy wrote: Since there is only one prog band in here, the choice is rather easy: Procol Harum of course. I have reviewed each album of each band in the list. I like almost all of them (although IB is not my cup of tea and Arthur Brown only released one album). How the hell would you compare these bands with the other great ROCK ones?

How is Procol Harum such an easy choice?? They helped with prog just as much as The Beatles.

the point is not whether Beatles and others influenced the early proggers - it's quite evident on the early Yes and Genesis albums - but rather this idea that without Pepper or Revolver or Strange Days, you wouldn't have had King Crimson, ELP or Yes.  I just don't think it was that simple.  The Beatles 'sound' is obvious on the Giles,Giles&Fripp recordings, but by the Crimson debut it was much less and clearly a new direction away from 1960s pop stylings was happening.  Again a fab four influence is heard in early Yes and Genesis, but the material on those albums is headed squarely in a different direction ..  60s bands created an atmosphere of creativity, but had little to do with the challenging and technically demanding new Prog era

progrocker2244 wrote: Building pop???? Don't try to tell me that Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, and Revolver helped build pop music.

Edited by Ivan_Melgar_M - December 19 2008 at 18:20

progrocker2244 wrote: Atavachron wrote: I was just being argumentative..  however, the Beatles didn't "build" prog at all nor many of the bands in the poll;  the Doors, Iron Butterfly? ..these were rock bands with a unique style, not protoprogressive as it relates to the British prog era..  sure the Beatles influence is clear in early Prog but they weren't 'the most important band in building prog' , they were the most important in building pop Building pop???? Don't try to tell me that Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, and Revolver helped build pop music. And seriously, if The Doors, The Beatles, and Iron Butterfly didn't contribute to the building of prog at all, then what did?

the musicians themselves;  no one seems to consider the possibility that the first true prog artists - Brian Wilson, Emerson, Zappa, Fripp, Bo Hansson, McLaughlin, etc. - were taking from their own background and experiences, using the classical, jazz and traditional training they'd had and applying it to modern rock/psych    ..it is possible these guys did not simply say "Hey, them Beatles are cool, they're usin that there classical music and stuff",  but rather that their inspiration came from somewhere other than the dazed and confused sounds of psych and pop rock.  It's true the Psych scene did foster Prog in England and Europe - the conditions were right - but it was less a musical impact and more a cultural and marketing one.. to assume that the Doors, Beatles, Iron Butterfly and a few other 60s pop groups was the reason Prog developed is highly dubious.  The time was right, the proper musicians had arrived, and the world was ready.  If the Beatles and Doors had never existed, I wager we still would've had Prog.

Atavachron wrote: I was just being argumentative..  however, the Beatles didn't "build" prog at all nor many of the bands in the poll;  the Doors, Iron Butterfly? ..these were rock bands with a unique style, not protoprogressive as it relates to the British prog era..  sure the Beatles influence is clear in early Prog but they weren't 'the most important band in building prog' , they were the most important in building pop

Building pop???? Don't try to tell me that Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, and Revolver helped build pop music. And seriously, if The Doors, The Beatles, and Iron Butterfly didn't contribute to the building of prog at all, then what did?

Time to close the poll?  The Beatles have an insurmountable lead.

peskypesky wrote: Where are the Monkees?

Atavachron wrote: none on the list for building prog,  I'd say the Nice --> ELP, early Yes & Genesis, Egg, Soft Machine, a few others

Wait, all of those bands were prog bands. They took what bands like The Beatles started, and made prog from stuff like that. Bands like The Beatles and Deep Purple built prog up to real prog, and then Yes and ELP took off fom where they left off.

Could you please count The Beach Boys (releasing the great album Pet Sounds) in?

A B Negative wrote: I'm going to ignore the Beatles and say that Krautrock would have been very different without Pink Floyd's influence (especially Interstellar Overdrive, A Saucerful of Secrets and Careful With That Axe Eugene).