My personal theory is that Lee and Lifeson were kinda cool until Peart joined the band and introduced them to Rand's garbage based on the fact that Working Man was on their only pre-Neil Peart album
I swear I've heard that's pretty much exactly what happened, they just went along with his bullshit because he wouldn't shut the fuck up about it
oh hey a post i can actually comment something useful on.
Fragile by Yes is an all time favorite for me, was my alarm clock for like all of elementary and middle school. Those songs seeped into my brain honestly, to this day when i witness great natural beauty i swear South Side of the Sky is just playing in my subconscious.
Gentle Giant and Gryphon have both been commented in this thread, my two favorite albums by them are The Power and The Glory (GG) and Red Queen to Gryphon Three (Gryphon)
Another artist i would highly reccomend is Van Der Graff generator, start with Godbluff and then move on to Pawn Hearts. Godbluff is really lyrically interesting and almost seems to focus on telling a story each song, whereas Pawn Hearts is introspection.mp4
Tarkus, an album my ELP, is in my opinion the greatest album ever created. I'm actually strongly considering getting a tattoo inspired by some of the art made for that album. The 6th part of the first song, "Battlefield", is literally how I became super anti-war as a kid which was sort of a pipeline to leftism for me.
Then there's King Crimson, and honestly you can take any album from before Beat and you will probably enjoy it (not dissing Beat or anything after it, ive just never listened to those albums so I am not sure if they are good yet).
Any genesis album, Third by Soft machine, any Yes album pre-90125, Brain Salad Surgery by ELP, Monster Movie by Can, any Wobbler album, any High Tide album, Breathless by Camel, and any stereo labs album.
Haken! The Mountain and Restoration are phenomenal albums all the way through
Also Mastodon's later stuff is proggy as hell
we have ascended to the next level - space rock - spiritualized
I first heard The Whirlwind ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryiegc12f3M ) in 2012 I think and in 2021 it just hits different.
Yes is also okay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPCLFtxpadE&list=PL6ogdCG3tAWiL8m1GcsVLoy0DQwG0-_T3
Okay also, it's weird, but https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZrNSROq810&list=PL3PhWT10BW3Uc25rc8iivdgj1smiowPeS is pretty good
Yeah... I feel like the jazzy side of prog turns a lot of people off of albums they might love if they listened the whole way through
oh maybe
I was just really vibing to Islands earlier this month so it was on my mind.