I haven't seen such a discussion on here so I was up to starting one. This thread is dedicated to the various Youtube channels that are either entirely or just largely dedicated to progressive rock - the discussions therein would include new album reviews, bands and artists' appreciation, classic prog memorabilia, and so on and so forth, you get the drill. So my question here would be: Are you familiar with any of these and what are your thoughts on them? Would you be interested in exploring any of these channels if you haven't already?

Here is a list I compiled with the Prog-dedicated or prog-related Youtube channels I am familiar with, including a short description of what the channel is mainly about and my take on it:

1. Sea of Tranquility: Perhaps the most obvious one, this channel is pretty much the largest classic rock, metal, prog and fusion-dedicated channel on the platform [Youtube], hosted by the great Pete Pardo, sometimes called in a humorous fashion "The Godfather" of prog youtube. The channel also features a cast of collaborators and serves as supportive to the SoT website, where you will find a lot of music and gig reviews, news and the like. I do like a lot of the content that is being uploaded here, Pete certainly has great ideas and seems like a genuinely cool guy with a sense of humour and a great taste in music, too! Prog is covered very often on the channel and you will find numerous ranking videos, albums discussions, album reviews, band discussions. However, it is very difficult to catch up with everything they are doing on SoT, since there are daily uploads and the material on there is so voluminous.

Prog rating: 5/5. A very fine coverage of new and old albums, Pete and the crew are avid supporters of the progressive rock genre and can often introduce you to amazing releases by bands you probably didn't know exist.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@seaoftranquilityprog" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@seaoftranquilityprog

2. Classic Album Review: Hosted by Barry Robinson, this is an English channel with frequent shows dedicated to classic rock most often, followed by progressive rock, folk rock, arena rock, heavy metal and occasionally more experimental music. Barry's discussions and music reviews might as well be the most articulated and well-written ones on the entire prog Youtube platform. I find myself enjoying a large number of them and even when I disagree with his opinions and liking (although our preferences converge very often), I must acknowledge that he is actually putting out some very fine quality content and is always honest in his reviews. Some of his most favorite artists (to my knowledge) include Jethro Tull, Nick Cave, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Flower Kings, Yes, Genesis, Queen, AC/DC, and as the list goes on, you probably get an idea of what you're getting here.

Prog rating: 5/5. Barry does justice to all albums and artists he discusses as he obviously prepares his videos quite carefully and picks his words rather intelligently. And while he is definitely unable to catch up with the gargantuan coverage of Sea of Tranquility, it is quality over quantity that definitely prevails on the channel.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@classicalbum" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@classicalbum

3. The Prog Corner: Hosted by Scott Lade (who I believe is based in Miami), this is one of the "younger" channels in existence, gaining more and more attention in the last year or so. Scott mainly does shorter-length videos on very specific topics, he often does rankings and lists, which can sometimes be entertaining depending on the viewer's preference. He appears as a very energetic and passionate presenter and in contrast to the previous two channels mentioned, this one is entirely dedicated to progressive rock. His enthusiasm is definitely inspiring to see, although I find his opinions often commonplace, sharing what is often the general view about particular bands or artists. Nothing bad about this aspect of the shows, just giving you an idea on what to expect here. He does a good coverage of new releases and discusses many of the more popular and respected bands and artists, not really a channel for too much underground stuff though.

Prog rating: 4/5. A self-declared full-time prog advocate, the passion Scott Lade has for the prog umbrella is infectious. You will find many discussions on classic and newer bands towards which the host is always supportive and understanding.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProgCorner" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@TheProgCorner

4. Notes Reviews: Here's a Youtube channel from Canada! Notes Reviews started out in 2014 and is mostly dedicated to uploading album reviews with a great emphasis on new progressive rock releases, and occasionally some shows dedicated to classic albums. You will also see the guy doing ranking videos, end-of-the-year lists and similar content, covering a fine array of bands (and even sometimes mentioning PA, to which he had dedicated a full video some years ago). I must admit this is one of my less favorite channels, I haven't actually tuned in for a long time, mainly because I used to find the host's views a bit superficial, repetitive, and not really that carefully prepared. His content has definitely been getting better over the years and he has a passion for prog that is apparent, but I prefer the first two channels mentioned by far.

Prog rating: 3/5. I am more critical of this channel because some of his album reviews often go nowhere and the reasons for his criticisms can seem obscured. However, many great, new albums are covered by the channel and the host is actually most often really positive in his evaluations.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesReviews" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@NotesReviews

5. Become the Knight: This American channel might generally be less familiar for the majority of the forum users because of the coverage of its contents, which goes far beyond prog (most often metal), which is just one corner of BtK. The channel is hosted by Michael Kupris, a musician based in Nashville, whose band Crusade has a page on PA (after a suggestion on my behalf from a couple of years ago ). He has a different approach, quite genuine, unfiltered and "raw", which is an aspect of his videos that I appreciate. With a passion for bands such as Dream Theater (mentioned to be the host's favorite band), Opeth, Periphery, Iron Maiden, or Leprous, Mike Kupris is definitely more interested in the heavier end of the prog spectrum. He does fantastic in-depth analyses of albums and songs, and much like the Classic Album Review channel, it is quality over quantity here. You may find some of his views a bit contrarian and he is not necessarily fond of what we recognize as classic prog and subsequently as a "classic prog sound", which should probably give you a good idea of what to expect from Become the Knight.

Prog rating: 4/5. Michael does really fine analysis videos, he is actually very well-informed and as a musician himself is able to give a different and often unique perspective on many progressive metal bands, which I find quite valuable. I tend to tune in every now and then, whenever I find a video on a topic of greater interest.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@BecomeTheKnight" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@BecomeTheKnight

6. The Album Years: I honestly expect this channel to be the most familiar for the forum users, but in case you might be wondering what this is, it is a music podcast hosted by Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness, in which the No-Man duo does year-by-year reviews of albums in various categories, including, of course, progressive rock (among many others). Needless to say that this podcast has introduced me to a large number of great records (both prog and non-prog), and is one of the most enjoyable and delightful corners of the internet as of today, in my humble opinion. Highly recommended if you haven't already seen this channel with its series, as it also gives you a good overview of the two musicians' personalities and musical interests.

Prog rating: 4/5. Despite the massive coverage of bands and genres on here, you may actually be disappointed to see that the two hosts purposefully omit certain bands as they tend not to place a great emphasis on progressive rock and its related sub-genres.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@thealbumyearspodcast" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@thealbumyearspodcast

7. Andy Edwards: The ex-Frost* and IQ drummer has his own Youtube channel and he discusses whatever he likes on it! This channels occupies a very interesting place in the prog Youtube sphere as Andy's humour and sincerity might sometimes be mistaken for rudeness and spite! Yes, that's right. He does a bit of everything and some of his discussions may sometimes have a more philosophical or theoretical edge but when he discusses prog, Mr Edwards is always very passionate and very honest about it and I often find my opinion aligning with his on various topics, bands, and albums. The channel is really entertaining and offers a different perspective to some classic prog questions.

Prog rating: 4/5. Andy offers the musician's perspective over the progressive rock genre, and while he speaks ferociously of his love for the genre's classic era, you will often see him quite critical of contemporary acts.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@AndyEdwardsDrummer" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@AndyEdwardsDrummer

8. Rael's Prog Rock Documentaries: This channel is exactly what its title says. I must admit I have not explored it too much in depth and am only familiar with just a few of the uploads on here but from what I have seen (and heard), I can tell that this is a very fine place for lovers of the classic prog era and the classic albums.

Prog rating: 4/5. The documentaries are well-constructed and offer an interesting view across the progressive rock world. Perhaps this would be quite a good entry point for someone not too familiar with the genre.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@progrockdocs" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@progrockdocs

9. The Prog Report: This channels serves as an extension to the Prog Report website and Facebook page, most often hosted by Roie Avin. As an online magazine, you may not be surprised to see the guys working here reviewing a large number of new prog releases and celebrating the anniversaries of various classic albums of the genre. A lot of the videos are entertaining, they do some fun shows and interviews, and have had guests like Mike Portnoy, Steven Wilson, Alan Morse, and so on.

Prog rating: 5/5. Perhaps this is one of the more important prog-dedicated corners of the internet, and naturally, the Youtube channel is quite enjoyable.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@progreport" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@progreport

10. Theneedledrop: As you might understand, this entry is a bit controversial and ironic. Anthony Fantano is the most popular music reviewer on Youtube, who despite his popularity, tends to avoid at all costs the progressive genre, and whenever he happens to cover it, is overly critical of it.

Prog rating: 1/5. Openly critical of progressive rock, Fantano is much more inclined towards popular, indie and hip-hop music. I bet he has a misunderstanding of prog, which you might catch a glimpse of in his confusing and definitely more negative reviews of Steven Wilson albums, for example. You may, however, find him speaking fondly of some classic albums, like ITCOTCK.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theneedledrop" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@theneedledrop

This list of ten is definitely covering the channels I am more familiar with and the ones which are more popular. If you have any further suggestions to add to this list, please feel free to, and above all, don't forget the thread question: Do you recognize and what do you think of these channels? Do you find them valuable in providing a greater exposure for the progressive genre? What would you do differently if you were any of these guys? Curious to see the reactions to this post, hopefully there will be at least a few. Enjoy and prog on!

Nice breakdown Nikola, and a good thread idea.

I'm afraid I can't offer much in terms of the topic itself. I don't watch or listen to people discuss music in this fashion because it takes away from precious free time to listen to the music itself. I'd much rather spend that hour listening to an album than someone talking about it. Exceptions would be the occasional reaction video because it's kind of fun to see people when they are genuinely hearing something cool for the first time. Another exception would be interviews with musicians I care about. Last, I much prefer reading about music than any kind of "show" format. A well written review or a book about an artist is much more for me than watching something. But far and away, I will choose music listening over anything else that takes free time.

https://www.youtube.com/@progrockdock

It upsets me that my Notifications won't work (only) for this channel... There's nothing more I love than a live chat during a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/@ProgLine" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/@ProgLine

Rick Beato, while covering music in general, does touch on prog from time to time. He had some very recent interviews with Rick Wakeman and David Gilmour...

I struggle with Barry's tone, too monotone for me I loose interest quickly. Some of the others I just don't have time. 

A few not mentioned that I subscribe to and enjoy:

This is run by Phil Aston who is originally from Birmingham as was in a metal band at one point but is now based in West Cornwall. He is a lovely man in his sixtiies who has a love of classic rock, metal and progressive rock and a fair amount beyond that. He refused recently to go with the negative type ranking videos and his channel has just taken off how you wouldn't believe. Clearly struck a chord with many! Highly recommended 5/5

http://www.youtube.com/@NowSpinningMagazine" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@NowSpinningMagazine

Nathan is a very nice young guy and a friend of Notes Reviews. His channel is not well visited but he has a love of modern prog and is a massive Neal Morse fan. I enjoy his enthusiam a lot and he often does a weekly news round up of new prog releases. He is almost exlusively prog based but admits that he does not venture much into experimental music. He did however review the recent Geordie Greep in a very warm and honest way. For me 5/5 but he won't satisfy those prog fans who don't go for the so called 'cookie cutter' stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/@NathanOnShuffle" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@NathanOnShuffle

This is a strange one as this was set up by Irish father and daughter pair Dermot and Tara and they were both based on Ireland. It took off really well but then the unexpected happened and Tara fell in love with fellow you tuber and prog fan Cody who lives in Canada. She did the truly amazing thing of moving there a few months ago and has succesfully applied for a Canadian work visa. It now appears that they are both running the channel and make a formidable team. I watched their recent Opeth video and loved it. 5/5 

BTW Dad Dermot is off the scene entirely!

http://www.youtube.com/@SpinninProg" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@SpinninProg

This is run by prog and metal fan Ian whi is British. He has a keen sense of humour and I love the way he talks about the music. We don't really align as much on music taste as the others above but it's still fun to hear his talk about some death metal band I've never heard of! Always fun 4/5

http://www.youtube.com/@RhymeSignatures" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@RhymeSignatures

I have the idea that most of us are too well versed in too much of the progressive and progrock listing of bands, to the point that any informative, and innovative stuff done on the toob is not the greatest thing since macaroni and cheese!

For my tastes, I find a lot of these way too repetitive for me, and I am a well known "no numbers" or "no topsthisorthat" person, and thus a lot of these end up falling down the list of interest. 

When one factors in the music from 20 other countries, instead of the usual 85% (just guessing a number) of known bands, then the whole thing looks like just another commercial endeavor and a sad one in some cases ... how many more times do you need to listen to CTTE and find out it is this or that? AND, you have the CD at home!!!! Which for me is very sad, as the rest of the magic in music is no longer appreciated, or even bothered to be discussed. Reminds me of one of these (possibly another) that said that Francesco was a high school singer in Banco! And he went back to another garage band from the 85% ... which for me is like saying, he is not into the progressive thing at all ... it's all about the hits and the fame!

And this is the irony. In the early days, in the 1970's we were playing all the new "imports" and they were all different, and we got an audience because it was there ... now it is like ... there is no audience for the rest ... and those lists? Continuously listing the same stuff ... for something that started as a reaction to the lack of creativity in the AM radio, or ability for new folks to be heard! 

I don't have the answer, but I don't want to be inside the meat market! It was disgusting for me during The Wall (actually Animals for me!) and it continues with a lot of these shows ... the whole thing is NOT about the music anymore ... and until we return to the music and not the numbers, I don't think that things can progress a whole lot. 

Here's hoping ... about the future, so we don't get bored!

Sorry, but you are exaggerating again (to put it gently).

All these creators of videos on youtube do it for the(ir) love of music and if their watchers or followers (or whatever they're called) discover and listen to music because of that, it's a good thing. 

Hi,

Not disagreeing with what you said, except that you might think you know about it all, and I don't. 

I've been "there" from the beginning, and if there was a chance/choice, I would consider myself one of the originals. And I was a lot of help for a show that is still on, that violates the idea of "progressive and progsomethingorother" because it is about THE MUSIC and not simply what folks think is what the public wants in these things, which is an idea, not a reality. The show I helped was always specified as stupid by the rest of the radio station, and yet, it's still on ... and it will be 50 full years, on Jan 27th! 

I, honestly, did not mean to sound like I didn't like what they did ... I think they are all OK in my book, though I find the choices, too much in the macaroni and cheese category .... and I probably would prefer a chateaubriant! 

You make it sound like I never discovered or listened to anything ... and I have 50 years of it, which means I have forgotten more than I probably can remember now ... but the love for the music, is still there ... and it's not about a favorite for someone/anyone ... that is indeed subjective, but FOR ME, it's about the art ... the MUSIC ... not the band, and while I would not say any of those shows are not very good, I would say I prefer a better mix, that is not so centered on the "top bands" as an imaginary idea that the "fans" have to have a dose of that dope three times each hour ... the same crap that radio was giving you 50 years ago ... all the music we love would not have gotten here, if that were the case ... and there was no Internet then ... or like the cartoon just a couple of days ago ... what's a phone book? 

I think the oversight of the history of the music is what is missing, not that the work they do is bad. But I prefer that "progressive/progrock" titles not be used if the choices are always a small list of things, and 5 classic bands ... at that point, it is not progressive in terms of the spirt of what got us here ... which you think I'm not appreciating ... how can I not, when I was a part of it from the start? And still am ... when it's like most folks are still smoking their first joint!

For me, it's about the MUSIC ... not anything else! 

You never know who's going to show up!!!

So if a YT'er makes a bunch of comments I don't agree with or like, I don't find myself grabbing my phone and typing a rebuttal. Normally comments just get lost in the wave of so many, especially if it is a live stream of 200-300 people watching the comments box just scrolls too fast to even read them, ATBH I don't give a krapp! 

My wife is usually watching with me as she is on her phone and sometime she'll even say stuff to the TV....."Of course Neil Peart is the best ever, your stoopid!!" she'll say! 

YT for me is 100% entertainment, I've left channels because they incite arguments and I want to relax. And I mainly leave channels because they are simply boring and a waste of time.

Scot keeps his channel entertaining and to the point, those are the type of channels I like. Spending 1.5 hours talking about one thing is nuts.

Bro, I'm already subscribed....So I'm awesome already. God Save the World!!!!!!!

I like the Gurgis Jones website, even though it isn't exclusively prog.

https://www.youtube.com/@gurgisjones1120/videos

It was five years ago today that we lost The Professor. A sad day.

But THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING TO THE PROG CORNER!!!

Yes, and not a day goes by that I don't listen to Rush and am reminded of his immense presence, intelligence and lyrical prowess.

I don't think that it being fusion or metal is an issue ... what bothers me is the high-schoolish drumming, as if those musicians can't count without a snare drum ... and it's still going around today, and I stopped listening to most prog/progressive because of it, and too many of the lists just show that ... with a small minority of better stuff, or more entertaining stuff.

These days, the jazz side is more entertaining ... might get too many standup bass players from Japan, but getting to hear an 18 saxophone band, and others, including some really fine women bands, makes the prog/progressive selections be really poor, in my book!

The music has to improve, not go backwards. Reminds me of the album from STRING DRIVEN THING ... "band without a drummer" ... and it sounded fine!