Proggiest Studio Debut from Prog-Related

Hey, that album kind of reminds me of Progressive Rock!

Some of these Prog Related bands started out on much less Proggy feet than others, of course.  Some become more Proggy over time, whilst others went the opposite way.

Which of these albums are the most Procalicious to you?  Yes, I'm allowing multiple votes this time -- use it wisely.  Of course I don't expect you to have heard all of these albums -- I haven't.  Just don't vote for an album you haven't even heard, please.

The Alan Parson's Project debut is my favourite of these, and very Proggy in a Pink Floydish sort of way (if it ain't Prog, it's seriously Prog Related).  The follow-up, I Robot, was hardly a let-down either.  Primus is a fun proggy group... Quite a few strong albums here from a Prog,(or Prog Related)  perspective, and quite a few weak ones.  I can't say which is the most Proggy since I haven't heard all of them, although I have a good idea of some albums that are less Proggy than others.

Sounds kind of funny to say, "Well I think THIS album is just slightly more related to Prog than THAT one, but they're both soooo totally related, y'know."

Okay, I thought about adding the albums of solo artists who'd worked for big name Prog bands (and are in Prog Related for their solo efforts) such as Peter Gabriel (PG I), Mike Rutherford (Smallcreep's Day) Jon Anderson (Olias of Sunhillow), Richard Wright (Wet Dream), David Gilmour (DG), Nick Mason (Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports), Steve Vai (Flex-Able), Geddy Lee (My favourite Headache), Peter Sinfield (Still) and John Wetton who was in many bands before releasing their so-called 'solo' albums, but opted not to. 

I also decided not to include bands with only one album, so Solstice Coil and the Blackfield collaborative album is not included, for instance.

Note that Primus has a live album that dates earlier, but I'm only including debut "studio albums" in the list.

If not Prog per se, I'm thinking of an album so kind of Proggish that upon listening to it you might exclaim:

"Man, that some hardcore Prog Related tuneage!  I mean, could it get any more Prog Related than that?  Freakin' awesome; it's just so totally related to Prog.  It's like, if I didn't know that that's not Prog, I might have thought for a second that that was Prog!  Totally related, totally. Blew me way just hearing that SUPREMELY Prog-Related tuneage."

Of course your head would explode right after.

So, I wanna hear your thoughts on this, which of these albums would you say has the most relation to Progressive Rock (be it cousin, uncle, wicked stepmother, or whatever).


Edited by Logan - October 04 2006 at 23:17

I haven't heard most of the groups/artists from the "subgenre", not to speak about the first studio album only. But from what I have heard, somehow it seems to me that Peter Sinfield album (I don't see much difference between Still and Stillusion) is the proggiest. But you've excluded solo efforts and single albums...

Fassbinder: Yes, Peter Sinfield would offer some real competition if I had included him -- rather regretted not including him, but I was thinking at the time that I might also come out with a poll specifically for Prog-Related 'solo' artists such as he.  I expect if people know his work that he'd lead the polls -- John Wetton might do well as well and....

Memowakeman and R o V e R: I certainly consider ToM&I to be a very proggy album  indeed.  Great stuff.  The Alan Parsons Project is, of course, considered a progressive rock group by many (especially by the kind of people who consider albums like Dark Side of the Moon to be Prog -- which he engineered as well as a band I listed before...), and I would have little compunction in rating that album 5 stars at this site (i.e. a Prog masterpiece).  It's no coincidence that I placed that album at the top.  I can't say it's more proggy than all of the other albums here, but it is my favourite, and, admittedly, my particular raison d'etre  for instigating this poll.  Incidentally, I had considered doing this as poll for the first two band albums due to my respect for I Robot.

I'd been a fan of the Alan Parsons Project for many years (especially the Asimovian titled I Robot which I spun an awful lot) when I saw Tales... at the library and excitedly took it out.  I was blown away by it -- it helped that I also had also been a fan of Edgar Allan Poe for many years.  'Twas a major oversight not to have listened to the album years earlier.

I must admit that I am happy to see it leading this poll (though I wish more people had voted for whatever).  Heck, at 3 votes [now 4!] (though one is mine hahaha) to one vote in other, and all the rest having a grand total of absolutely none, it's stomping the competition!   I feel so vindicated as, to be honest, I rather would like to see The Project in a full-fledged Prog category -- even if they're better suited to AOR.   Heck, Doctor Evil's son referred to them as a progressive rock group in Austin Powers (leading Prog authority Mike Myers being a fan -- hehe).

 I expected Tales... to lead this poll, but I wasn't expecting such a wide margin.

EDIT: someone else voted as I composed this post bringing Tales to four votes.

Edited by Logan - October 05 2006 at 12:57

Open-Mind wrote: The Kick Inside for me

A lovely album, and one of the first CDs I bought (particularly for "The Man With the Child in his Eyes" -- used to imagine she was singing that to me ). 

It's got a good proggy-pop feel to it.

Excuse the anecdote: A strange thing happened when I first played The Kick Inside (had never heard it before).  As I was listening to "Strange Phenomenon" I was reading a book called Riding the Iron Rooster (yeah multi-tasking hehe).  She was singing about strange coincidences... Suddenly as I got to a line well into the book that happened to mention the Buddhist mantra "Om mani padme hum," as words of power, she sung the same words at the EXACT same time.  Strange phenomenon indeed!  Struck me as rather eerie, anyway.




Edited by Logan - October 05 2006 at 13:40

Tales of Mystery and Imagination!

^ You mean Supertramp's debut album?  By the time of this poll they already had been moved to Art Rock.  Great band. 

Been many, many years since I last listened to ELO's debut album.  Something to buy since my old record collection which I largely acquired from a brother is gone, sadly (was part of the collection).

Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination is full blown prog.

This would be my pick...

Edited by T.Rox - October 17 2006 at 12:04

Melomaniac wrote: Saga and Iron Maiden's debut albums were amazing debuts !

    
Hardly Proggy though - either of them

Belated; catching up on stuff I neglected to follow up on before due to pressing family matters.  Thanks for the link.  Suffice to say, a very well-written and comprehensive review and I look forward to purchasing the album at some time.  I'm sure I've heard the album before (part of a friend's collection), but not for many years.  I used to be very big on Jon Anderson (saw him with Kitaro in concert years back -- that was excellent).