What not prog band would've made the best prog?

Grandaddy

nick_h_nz wrote: Philchem8 wrote: Split Enz. Maybe they don't qualify as they started out as a prog outfit, but since they became famous for their new wave stuff, I think they're worth considering. One could see traces of their prog roots in some of their pop work, particularly in their instrumentals and songs like Dirty Creature, Poor Boy, Semi-Detached, Giant Heartbeat and Log Cabin Fever. I’ve always equated the Enz with Genesis and Queen. All three are no more or less prog to me than the others. All three were more overtly prog in their early years/albums (generally in the ‘70s) even during their more mainstream and accessible “pop” years (generally in the ‘80s), there was still plenty of prog still there. It was merely less obvious, and all three have had their later work compared unfavourably with their earlier work because of it. Conversely, all of them had far greater commercial success with their less overtly prog sound - although Queen and the Enz did fare better on the charts with their earlier material than Genesis.

Interesting comparison. I would add that the prog music of these 3 bands shared a strong theatrical element. But I think the comparison only goes so far and may be influenced by your perspective from down-under. Firstly, I think you would agree that Split Enz's prog period was rather short (1975-1977) and at the most consisted of 3 albums, as compared to 1970-77 for Genesis and 7 albums. More importantly, outside New Zealand and Australia, Enz was relatively unknown during their prog years and the rest of the world only became aware of them when they moved into new wave. Even in Canada, where the Enz were quite successful in the early 80s, their prog albums unfortunately remained little known (though I think they were great). Queen was obviously much more successful worldwide from 74-75, while Genesis started to become a major act in the UK, parts of Europe and later Canada in the early to mid-70s. Starting with 1972's Foxtrot, all their albums reached at least the top 12 in the UK charts and became Gold or more in Italy, France, the US and Canada (among others). Though admittedly, in the US they were more of a cult act than in these other countries. No doubt, Genesis had more commercial success when they moved to the mainstream but I think they are still recognized throughout the world as much (if not more) for their prog rock music than for their mainstream hits. That's why I see Split Enz more as a pop-rock band, while I see Genesis mainly as a prog band that moved into pop-rock, and Queen somewhere in the middle.
Still, I take your points and also find interesting all the other bands you have identified in your posts.

Edited by ExittheLemming - December 18 2021 at 09:49

Very cool thread that I'd never seen/heard about until now. 

I think "Guitar God" would make a good subgenre on PA.

Kate Bush!

Their latest "Gigatron" is well worth a listen too.

nick_h_nz wrote: ...it occurred to me that a lot of the alternative rock that came out of the Pacific Northwest in the ‘90s had some pretty prog sensibilities (and I know two prog blogs that do count some of those bands as prog). Their music is often derided, but probably based upon familiarity only with the singles that gained the most airplay. A deeper dive into their albums reveals that there was a lot more to the music of many of these bands. So I would definitely put forward the following four “grunge” bands as being capable of making some first rate prog: Alice in Chains Screaming Trees Soundgarden Sunny Day Real Estate

Mascodagama wrote: The Buggles. …is that cheating?