Sci-Fi in Prog

Speaking of Canada, let's not forget Saga. Of the first four albums to reflect the earliest songs of the band's "Chapters" SF concept, the 2nd and 3rd sport great Tony Roberts paintings.. And then a couple decades later, the second album to resume the "Chapters," which was House Of Cards.

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ZERO HOUR--TBE TOWERS OF THE AVARICE


great sci fi album. A man battles greed in a dystopian society. Complete with fantastic futuristic lyrics and themes.
Excellent album. ;)

Ethos’s first album “Ethos (Ardour)” explored SF concepts, albeit rather cheesily. They seemed to make a point of shifting toward more down-to-earth subject matter on their second album “Open Up”, such as attacks on the music business.

Barclay James Harvest delved into SF themes with After the Day and Nova Lepidoptera (which was openly labeled as science fiction!)

Let’s not forget ’39 by Queen, notable not only for its being atypical in style for the band, but for the long-term space-travel storyline.

Curved Air’s Moonshine, from “Airborne.”

Pallas and Earth & Fire, among others, did concept albums about Atlantis.

The Enid’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes” had an Apocalyptic theme.

Flash’s “Out of Our Hands” was mostly taken up with the Catalina suite, which involved an interstellar messenger dispatched to Earth.

Nektar’s “Remember the Future” had a SF storyline that combined elements of both Jesus Christ Superstar and Tommy (at least IMO).

I’m surprised no one mentioned Gong and their Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, with its hippy-trippy interplanetary storyline.

Happy the Man’s repertoire was mostly instrumental, but the titular character of The Falcon (fr. “Better Late…”) was a space explorer with a warning for mankind.

Hudson-Ford: I Don’t Understand, Revelations, Silent Star, Did Worlds Collide, Mechanics.

Jon & Vangelis: Mayflower, which compares the original sailing vessel to a future interstellar vessel bringing people to a new world.

McDonald & Giles’ Birdman, with its straightforward story of a man who builds himself a set of artificial wings.

National Health’s Tenemos Roads was loosely inspired by “The Worm Ouroboros” by Eric Rucker Eddison.

Rick Wakeman’s “No Earthly Connection” had SF themes, again rather cheesily. And let’s not forget “Journey to the Centre of the Earth,” based on Jules Verne’s novel.

Holy crap, this turned out to be a long list.

verslibre wrote: The music is more on the funky avant-garde jazz side of things, but I think this qualifies. Love the film.

Yeah that's a great movie.  I was checking through the thread.  Here's one a lot of people aren't familiar with that is really really good -

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jacklancaster2

This one by the Samuel Jackson Five is really good, too -

AreYouHuman wrote: Flash’s “Out of Our Hands” was mostly taken up with the Catalina suite, which involved an interstellar messenger dispatched to Earth. Holy crap, this turned out to be a long list.

Edited by cstack3 - May 30 2013 at 20:02

AreYouHuman wrote: Ethos’s first album “Ethos (Ardour)” explored SF concepts, albeit rather cheesily. They seemed to make a point of shifting toward more down-to-earth subject matter on their second album “Open Up”, such as attacks on the music business. Barclay James Harvest delved into SF themes with After the Day and Nova Lepidoptera (which was openly labeled as science fiction!) Let’s not forget ’39 by Queen, notable not only for its being atypical in style for the band, but for the long-term space-travel storyline. Curved Air’s Moonshine, from “Airborne.” Pallas and Earth & Fire, among others, did concept albums about Atlantis. The Enid’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes” had an Apocalyptic theme. Flash’s “Out of Our Hands” was mostly taken up with the Catalina suite, which involved an interstellar messenger dispatched to Earth. Nektar’s “Remember the Future” had a SF storyline that combined elements of both Jesus Christ Superstar and Tommy (at least IMO). I’m surprised no one mentioned Gong and their Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, with its hippy-trippy interplanetary storyline. Happy the Man’s repertoire was mostly instrumental, but the titular character of The Falcon (fr. “Better Late…”) was a space explorer with a warning for mankind. Hudson-Ford: I Don’t Understand, Revelations, Silent Star, Did Worlds Collide, Mechanics. Jon & Vangelis: Mayflower, which compares the original sailing vessel to a future interstellar vessel bringing people to a new world. McDonald & Giles’ Birdman, with its straightforward story of a man who builds himself a set of artificial wings. National Health’s Tenemos Roads was loosely inspired by “The Worm Ouroboros” by Eric Rucker Eddison. Rick Wakeman’s “No Earthly Connection” had SF themes, again rather cheesily. And let’s not forget “Journey to the Centre of the Earth,” based on Jules Verne’s novel. Holy crap, this turned out to be a long list.

Yep, I was going to mention the Gong trilogy.

cstack3 wrote: Do instrumental electronic bands such as Tangerine Dream or Popul Vuh rise to the level of sci-fi influenced prog?   TD albums, especially "Phaedra" always sent me to another plane!  I'm not sure what their influences were, but I'm guessing there was some sci-fi in the mix.

There is also "bad prog featuring sci fi" like Yes' "Arriving UFO!"  Not my favorite Yes song anyway.  

Robert Schroeder- galaxie cygnus