Thanks Stuart, there's a lot lot explore there! I was 'prog-phobic' for a long time but in recent years have begun to open up to a lot of it, especially since I got into jazz fusion I think.

Paul

I like the first Trapeze album a lot. It is a real crossover from when they were (basically) The Montanas and the next album “Medusa” which is hard rock. It has pop touches snd more “progressive” elements. I give that one a thumbs up.
And while they can be accused of noodling, the band Gentle Giant are so good at it that they are high in my list of great prog. They seemingly can play any instrument and they can reproduce it live. Any live recording is good, but I would start with “Acquiring the Taste” and “Octopus.” As people on this forum will know they evolves from Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, but like Trapeze, it’s a different thing from their earlier pop format.

I used to think of prog as the point at which psych went 'wrong', but I have mellowed.

Some of my favourites:

Web - I Spider
Second Hand - Death May Be
Samurai
Human Beast
High Tide - Sea Shanties
T2 - Boomland
Van Der Graaf - all their early ones.

Good list, and if anyone enjoys Caravan (I saw their name mentioned) then Hatfield and the North are similar and good. The album “Afters” is a good collection of their stuff.

Also National Health.

Right, I almost mentioned them, and what I’ve heard by the band Egg has been pretty good, too.
I just relistened to the first Trapeze album. I still really like it. It’s that liminal space between psych of the late 60’s and progressive early ‘70’s. It came out in 1970, but sounds ‘68 or ‘69 to me. It’s on Threshold records, the Moody Blues label, but the recent expanded CDs are on Purple records because of Mel Galley snd Glenn Hughes association with Deep Purple later on I imagine. An interesting link between the sounds of the sixties and the hard rock of the 70’s, which admittedly is not really my thing, with a few exceptions. While the vocals remind me of Audience sometimes, they also have this ability to make a song with a pop hook, sort of like very early Yes.

Paul:
you can do better than list to the likes of Porcupine Tree and Riverside. These are over-played bands for noobs to salivate over. Also, just to throw in some, I'd stay clear of the likes of Wilson,Mars Volta,Muse,Dream Theatre, Radiohead ad nauseum. One exception of a fad band that has released some worthy material is Spock's Beard.

There is a plenitude of new prog bands that crop up and are immediately-forgotten , or never even given a chance.
Actually it is too much to handle. For past ,say, 5 years, there has been at least 2 new BANDS per DAY. (Of course, yes you have it...95% turnout to be complete rubbish-prog. ) So it's a chore and for this reason heads are reluctant to spoon-feed you noobs with their hard-earned knowledge, product of much dirty digging.

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Stuart: fine list. You can get a masterlist of proto bands from Progears forum.

I'm curious about this Tremeloes lp. Don't knw that one. With a band name like Tremeloes one would expect anything but prog.
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Wallace can of course visualize the majority on this forum as having some degree of progphobic-ness.

Still you must get out of that hole since what is prog but an extention, a natural outgrowth , of psych. And we all know how at RZ youse all love yer psych - especially UK popsike.


The road exiting psych and leading to progressive rock can be somewhat of an exertion.
Folk don't want to have to "think" to relish music and prog oftimes demands this of the serious listener. And "serious" is the word here.You have entered that domain where vapid girlfriend lyrics are in the main a minority. (Well that is if you discount much of the 80's "prog" the likes of King Crimson "Beat" & "Three of a Perfect Pair" and YES "Owner of a Lonely Heart" pop-grabs.]

Prog , on first listen, can be rather a challenge. Unpredictable. Un-danceable.It exacts perserverence. For the layman, some portion of dedication.Leap of faith.
And its not just the lyrics - which oftimes (for example Jon Anderson)- can be recondite/ambiguous, not crystal clear of meaning - in a GOOD way so that you can take what you want from them.

It is the composition. As is case with say jazz or fusion, folk just for some unexplicable reason can't deal with chord, odd key and meter changes. They desire snaring chorouses,simple, un-taxing composition. (And there is nothing wrong in that -other than, in my opinion, it is over-abundant. Wallace has nothing against simple popsike of the masses. Wallace is a big listener. Wallace would not be on this forum from inception were it otherwise.)



Finally it is that pesky "pretentious twaddle" line which Wallace shall choose to bypass this post. Only to say that some folk have this hang-up with denigrating virtuosity.

If you wish to go for the radio-friendly, Short-attention route, listening to pop hits as opposed to commiting oneself to doing a whole prog epic/concet lp in one serious go; that is your bag. Good luck with it.
I suppose fast food never killed anyone.

Some good points Wallace, I've noticed that even artists are more and more reluctant to use the word prog or progressive to categorise their output on streaming platforms etc presumably being aware of a phobia or perceived negative association with those terms. Can you recommend any go-to websites that are most likely to feature new music in the genres you like most?

ProgressiveEars forum

Progarchives archive (not forum)

Thanks W, time for a deeper dive.