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Re: Family

Good answer Paul.

Re: Family

Procol first is clearly baroque poprock.

"Days of Future Passed" is not prog, but (as you say) prog-anticipating.



But that was not my question: I am asking do you see anything prog about the debut Family lp.

Re: Family

IMHO there is to much flux betwix psychedelic albums and progressive albums to give a definite answer altho the answer may lay in 'which group'became the first purely progressive music group.
Also in the mix is who decided on the moniker 'progressive'?
Wiki says this
Definitions[edit]
"Progressive rock" is almost synonymous with "art rock"; the latter is more likely to have experimental or avant-garde influences.[18] Although a unidirectional English "progressive" style emerged in the late 1960s, by 1967, progressive rock had come to constitute a diversity of loosely associated style codes. [nb 2] With the arrival of a "progressive" label, the music was dubbed "progressive pop" before it was called "progressive rock".[20][nb 3] "Progressive" referred to the wide range of attempts to break with the standard pop music formula.[22] A number of additional factors contributed to the label—lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", some harmonic language was imported from jazz and 19th-century classical music, the album format overtook singles, and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening, not dancing.[23
Now there's a thought !

Re: Family

The problem with answering your question, as has already been identified to a degree, is that it assumes there is a clear agreed definition of progressive rock, when there isn't. For example, I don't believe genuine progressive rock was made after 1973/4. Music made after that in a '70s prog' style is exactly that, and certainly not progressive rock as originally envisaged or as it should be defined. It is retro or conservative, the opposite of progressive.

So in reality, your question is 'is Dool's House the first prog LP by my definition of prog rock?'. Only you can answer that. My opinion is that Doll's House is post-psychedelic experimental rock and therefore is definitely progressive. I also think it is rock and not pop. Just because it displays some typical 1968 motifs doesn't mean it isn't progressive. It wasn't ever going to sound like 1970. It is similar to Second Hand's Reality from the same year, another LP that is really post-psych but yet to display the cliches of what became prog rock and therefore not generally considered a prog LP.

Another early contender is Nice's Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack, actually very much a psychedelic LP, that just predicted some of prog's classical pretentions early and is therefore often considered.

Perhaps you should give us your definition of progressive rock?