The Prog Premier League - The Final League Table

[C]

15 Hawkwind

I love Hawkwind but I wouldn't class them as prog...!




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[Lord Rother]

So, here’s the list you’ve all been waiting for.

1. Genesis
2. Yes
3. Big Big Train
4. Pink Floyd
5. Steven Wilson / Porcupine Tree
6. Sigur Ros
7. Magic Pie
8. Caravan
9. Barclay James Harvest
10. Marillion
11. Wallenstein
12. Mostly Autumn
13. IQ
14. Kaipa
15. Moon Safari
16. Mystery
17. Sylvan
18. Anathema
19. Strawbs
20. Jethro Tull

[Neil Jung]

So, here’s the list you’ve all been waiting for.

1. Genesis
2. Yes
3. Big Big Train
4. Pink Floyd
5. Steven Wilson / Porcupine Tree
6. Sigur Ros
7. Magic Pie
8. Caravan
9. Barclay James Harvest
10. Marillion
11. Wallenstein
12. Mostly Autumn
13. IQ
14. Kaipa
15. Moon Safari
16. Mystery
17. Sylvan
18. Anathema
19. Strawbs
20. Jethro Tull

Trust you to put loads of modern Prog in!
I’ve never heard of Magic Pie!
Are Sigur Ros Prog? Hmmm.
We forgot The Flower Kings.
I forgot Anathema... the last band I saw before lockdown.
Other thoughts....
Surely Gong can’t be Premier League?
Nice to see BJH in there but no Moody Blues? How does that work?
As for Mostly Autumn... “are they the new Pink Floyd?”... although I quite like them and their Gilmouresque guitar they can’t be premier league

[Neil Jung]

15 Hawkwind

I love Hawkwind but I wouldn't class them as prog...!

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I would. Space rock is Prog according to Prog Magazine.

And I saw you put Audience in. Good try.

[mudshark]

I'm just reading through. Wouldn't dare to participate in this clash of the titans.
But shouldn't somebody put Radiohead in there? They've been progger than prog for quite a few years.
The band that finally made the genre Cool. They're the Pink Floyd of the prog millennials.
I don't know Wallenberg or Thomas the train that well but not considering Radiohead reeks of cronyism.
Really don't want to piss on your parade. But I do find it strange. And frankly, a little disappointing, class.

[mudshark]

So, OK then, I'll try to be in.

Can
Radiohead
VDGG
Soft Machine
Pink Floyd
Jethro Tull
King Crimson
Yes
Genesis (up to TOTT bit minus the Lamb!)
Gong
Magma
Focus
Matching Mole
Robert Wyatt solo, of course
Mike Oldfield
Tangerine Dream
Klaus Schulze (if TD gets in, so does he)
The Moodies (because of a few tunes)
Hatfield & The North (could have gone places)
Gentle Giant (I don't really mean that. For some strange reason I've grown to resent their 'music' more and more over the years. Really strange. I really liked their rendition of Sweet Georgia Brown).

[Matt Wilson]

Cool list, Muddy. Some thoughts:

Radiohead, hmmm.... Magma, played some on youtube today for the first time, again - hmmm..... Matching Mole, aren't they another two album band? Gentle Giant - "Sweet Georgia Brown," I barely remember that. It's on Playing the Fool, no?

No Zappa?

[mudshark]

Hi Matt,

I don't consider Zappa prog at all. For me his music stands alone. Zappaesque.

"Sweet Georgia Brown" is on that live album. I'm kidding around, of course. That Schulman Family is so talented and I've tried to listen to their music so often. But for me it just doesn't have no rhythm, soul, oomph, whatever you want to call it. Their rendition of Sweet Georgia Brown does though, but even then only a bit. Magma: debatable. I was scraping the barrel a bit. But when I got interested in Gong (and I like them a lot), Magma immersed and I got into them as well, although quite a bit less.

I love the Matching Mole albums very much. I think these are desperate attempts of Wyatt of to find the magic of Soft Machine and at times I think he gets there. I find them emotional albums. Only a couple but in the prog genre show emotion, passion and innovation. Henceforth. I have to thank Raphael from Liege for that.

No hmmm on Radiohead. Their albums between 1997 and 2007 are sublimely prog and in that period they're the best band in the genre since David Jackson left VDGG. No discussion there

For me prog can be pretty much distinguished as follows:

- Bands like BJH, Camel, Moody Blues etc, which sound very much like Richard Clayderman after a half-decent joint
- Mainstream commercial stuff like ELP, Genesis, Yes,
- 'Punk' like King Crimson, VDGG, Matching Mole.

[Matt Wilson]

A lot of Zappa is totally prog. Changing time signatures, fancy playing, etc. He just didn't know it is all. I've never heard Matching Mole, it's difficult like some Crimson and VDGG? I may have to order those two discs.

Have no idea who Richard Clayderman is. I think you're a lot more prog than you think! I'm still learning all of this. We have to be students all of our lives or we're ready to die.

Radiohead, progressive. I guess, I just don't know enough about prog in the '90s to compare. I'm stuck in the '70s for now.

[trans-chigley express]

20 The Pineapple Tree

Who??

[trans-chigley express]

you’ll be suggesting Starcastle next!

Ouch!

[trans-chigley express]

Gentle Giant got it right

Their last few albums were not very good

[Lord Rother]

So, here’s the list you’ve all been waiting for.

1. Genesis
2. Yes
3. Big Big Train
4. Pink Floyd
5. Steven Wilson / Porcupine Tree
6. Sigur Ros
7. Magic Pie
8. Caravan
9. Barclay James Harvest
10. Marillion
11. Wallenstein
12. Mostly Autumn
13. IQ
14. Kaipa
15. Moon Safari
16. Mystery
17. Sylvan
18. Anathema
19. Strawbs
20. Jethro Tull

Trust you to put loads of modern Prog in!
I’ve never heard of Magic Pie!
Are Sigur Ros Prog? Hmmm.
We forgot The Flower Kings.
I forgot Anathema... the last band I saw before lockdown.
Other thoughts....
Surely Gong can’t be Premier League?
Nice to see BJH in there but no Moody Blues? How does that work?
As for Mostly Autumn... “are they the new Pink Floyd?”... although I quite like them and their Gilmouresque guitar they can’t be premier league

I decided not to get too hung up on this (I’m like that with lists, e.g. my Top 200 albums!), so just went for a personal favourites, rather than considering influence, era etc.

Magic Pie - start with King For A Day....

The Flower Kings - they don’t quite click with me.

Gong - I agree, they do nothing for me.

Moody Blues - probably an omission on my part! Oh well....

Oops, missed Pendragon.

[robertff]

Radiohead is definitely a good shout, they are up there near the top of the league. Surely we need to consider those who have made the most impact, been successful and had a good run of well received albums. We need to put personal faves aside and really consider who has done the most to advance prog rock surely?

Goodness, if I can accept that Genesis should be at the top or thereabouts, despite my absolute dislike of their music, then surely we can put personal faves aside and try to create a Premier Prog League worthy of its name, can’t we? Otherwise this is just a list of everyone’s top twenty, which is pointless, and this is not what this thread is all about.

So, can we agree on who should be at the top place, the champions? Following that, the next four places?



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[Walk In My Shadow]

So, can we agree on who should be at the top place, the champions? Following that, the next four places?



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Jethro Tull

Van Der Graaf Generator

Traffic

Renaissance (1st incarnation)

Yes

Prog and Progressive.

[C]

Draft 2

I've decided Hawkwind are 'prog'...(!)

Pink Floyd need to go in somewhere but if regularity of playing is a factor they would be near the bottom!

1. Jethro Tull
2. Gentle Giant
3. Genesis
4. Soft Machine
5. King Crimson
6. Gong
7. Yes
8. VDGG
9. Strawbs
10. Focus
11. Hawkwind
12. Camel
13. Caravan
14. The Nice
15. Moody Blues
16. Audience
17. PFM
18. Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
19. Barclay James Harvest
20. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
21. Hatfield & The North
22. Mike Oldfield




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[Rorschach]

Are Sigur Ros Prog? Hmmm.

They can't possibly be. I quite like them.

[C]

Tangerine Dream
Klaus Schulze (if TD gets in, so does he)

They don't lad!

But then again if I have just added Hawkwind I should add TD too...





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[robertff]

So, can we agree on who should be at the top place, the champions? Following that, the next four places?



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Jethro Tull

Van Der Graaf Generator

Traffic

Renaissance (1st incarnation)

Yes

Prog and Progressive.

Right then, we’re off, thanks WimS. Not sure we’ll get agreement on Traffic (although they are one of my favourites) and Renaissance but the other three are up there I would suggest.


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[robertff]

Draft 2

I've decided Hawkwind are 'prog'...(!)

Pink Floyd need to go in somewhere but if regularity of playing is a factor they would be near the bottom!

1. Jethro Tull
2. Gentle Giant
3. Genesis
4. Soft Machine
5. King Crimson
6. Gong
7. Yes
8. VDGG
9. Strawbs
10. Focus
11. Hawkwind
12. Camel
13. Caravan
14. The Nice
15. Moody Blues
16. Audience
17. PFM
18. Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
19. Barclay James Harvest
20. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
21. Hatfield & The North
22. Mike Oldfield




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Are Strawbs prog, I wouldn’t have thought so?



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