The TEN PROGGIEST ALBUMS of the 1970s | RANKED 

"The Remembering" is my favorite song of Yes.

Most of the people I knew who hated Tales were part of the populist wave that started around 1972 and was trying to predict what the working classes would like. The move away from Progressive started as early as 1969, then again in late 1971-1972. The timing of Tales release was bad for epic works.

it's a heavy-going ride, for sure. Leg end is easy listening by comparison. "Western Culture" is just a touch more out there IMO. If "In Praise Of Learning" is "Ulysses", "Western Culture" is "Finnegans Wake"

@@BrennanYoung Yes, Western Culture is an amazing achievement!

One big difference between Frank Zappa and Henry Cow: HC are NOT FUNNY. Not at all. They make rather a point of it, in fact.

Agreed!!!!

Yes indeed. Henry Cow are imo one of the very greatest musical ensembles of the 20th century. IMO their music will live and be studied and admired long after most of the rest will be forgotten.

Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Pierot Lunaire. Also, great.

Il rovescio della medaglia, buon vecchio charlie, the trip, goblin

Biglietto per l'inferno, Campo di marte

Totally agree, the soprano added another dimension. I was fortunate to have met Anderson. If memory serves, it was the Songs From the Wood or Heavy Horses tour. I brought up A Passion Play, suggesting, 'will we ever hear another one'. Ian kind of snarked at it and said," that one was Martin's, ask him".

Also - Vangelis album 'Earth'. A bit rocky/proggy/world/ambient.

Heaven and Hell was an amazing album too, hauntingly beautiful.

It is their most difficult album imo. I too need to revisit it. I adore the mentioned Forest Dance and wish it was much longer. Anyway, to get the concept, @Krendall2006 wrote an explanation on the lyrics and theme which is probably helpful to get ones head around the album: Traditionally, a passion play is a performance about the life of Jesus Christ. These plays could go for hours over a period of days. During intermissions, a fable would be acted out. "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" fills the role of the fable. ACT 1 The first half of the song is about a young man named Ronnie Pilgrim who dies. His spirit is allowed to stay on earth for his funeral (most of the attendees show up late). After his funeral, an angel appears and takes Ronnie to the afterlife. Once there, he is taken to a viewing room to be judged. His life is played like a movie, with the projectionist/judge being God, Jesus, or another angel. (The title of the piece is "In the Offices of G. Oddie & Son") Ronnie's achievements are first shown, but he is warned that it's all downhill from there. Ronnie's many shortcomings are then shown. Ronnie attempts to cover for himself, but the judge isn't fooled. The other angels and spiritual being taunt Ronnie at first, but then ask him what it's like to be alive. Ronnie feels all is lost, but the projectionist tells Ronnie he's been accepted. End Act 1 INTERMISSION It's a simple story of a hare who's lost his glasses. All of his animal friends attempt to come up with a solution, however no one ever asks Hare what he thinks the best solution is. The irony is that Hare already has a solution: a spare set of glasses. The moral: don't meddle in other peoples' business without their request. Fun fact: this segment is narrated/sung by bassist Jeffery Hammond-Hammond, not Ian Anderson. ACT 2 Ronnie is sitting in heaven and is shocked to find it boring. "Well I'll go to the foot of the stairs" is an English expression equivalent to "well I'll be damned." Ronnie walks up to God and begins chewing Him out, stating that Heaven is no place for people. Ronnie decides to try out Hell, thinking that place might be more fun. God, in a loving manner, lets Ronnie go. Ronnie then meets Lucifer, who explains his existence. Ronnie finds Hell even worse (and Lucifer much worse to be around than God) so he looks for another option. He discovers he can be reincarnated. Ronnie takes the option, and the song winds down with his anxious anticipation of being reborn and the extreme pain of the experience. The song ends with the Passion Play starting again, though it never really stopped. End Act 2 and song.

Yeah, I believe Richard Williams of Kansas was/is also a GG fan

Kkkkkkk

Astrid weeks would be better for me at least

😂😂😂

I wouldn't have said it's prog whatsoever.

@@timhutton6802 I think he was joking, referring to Andy's Astral Weeks video.

Acquiring the Taste reminds me of the music that was used for some children's programmes at the time - like Pogles' Wood. No wonder we all grew up a bit strange 😊

Are you sure you were at a concert? It sounds like you accidentally attended the meeting of some bizarre cult

@@jimmycampbell78 That's what it felt like - in fact, TWO cults. One of them looked like university intellectuals sitting on chairs at the front stroking their beards and almost everyone else was at the back on the floor wallowing in vomit. Hands down the most nightmarish gig experience of my entire life. Barbs are the worst drug ever. The pills were floating all over the floor too.

@@jimmycampbell78yah I don’t believe him either lol

For me it's between Chris Cutler and Guy Evans. I'd never complain about Bruford or Collins or Peart or any of the other big names, who all fully deserve their monster reputations, they are all great drummers. It's just that Chris Cutler has a sort of unpredictable, explosive quality. He is like listening to a box of assorted fireworks that somebody has just tipped a random shovelful of embers into. Guy Evans is similar, but perhaps a touch more conventional, or maybe it's just that VDGG are a little more accessible than Henry Cow.

@@BrennanYoung I think Guy Evans is great, there’s just something about Chris Cutler’s rimshots even Tom Tom rimshots in with everything else, it’s just mesmerising🙂

I wrote the above before the stream. GG is my favorite band and I like seeing Acquiring the Taste on the list because it’s different from the other albums. But even more _Passion Play_ by Jethro Tull because Thick As A Brick is always pushing it out from every list. And yes, agreed that Play is more complex, etc than Brick.

Three Friends is my favourite GG album too.

I had "Acquiring the Taste" and "Three Friends" on both sides of a C-90. For me they are a double album, unseparable and brilliant.

Cannibal corpse too of course

Gotta love Fish Rising - one of my absolute faves.

@@mattstapleton9584 They hold the high prestigious honour of being banned by the New Zealand gubmint!

Yes Fragile. Starcastle first album King Crimson Red. Chris Squire Fish out of water. Genesis Foxtrot. Pink Floyd. Dark side of the moon. Nektar. Remember the future. Rush 2112. Vander Graaf generator. Pawn Hearts. UK. first album

I agree with Pawn Hearts. I never heard Le Orme and need to correct that. Personally, I think Red really isn't that wonderful-it's good, but a bit safe for me. Rush is a group I admire but don't enjoy that much. HC (and Magma and Hatfield and the North) deserve a lot more attention. I would have included Soft Machine Vol. 2, Third or Fourth, but it is all about our perspective, right? The Gong Trilogy is great but I don't know if I personally would have included it. It was a transition from free form to large fusion-inspired jams; probably an accurate reflection of the band's evolution and Gong 's move from Byg records to more commercial Virgin.

I've got the complete Tull collection, and Passion Play is definitely the most-played of them all.

Glad you enjoyed it!

I usually stop the podcast and listen and I was blown away by the Henry Cow stuff. Groundbreaking stuff.

@@DavidRamos-nz4bh I bought that yellow Henry Cow box a few years ago! It is some intense stuff. I have to be in a Cow mood for it though! When I am it smacks!

if only the other side was better

If u want ridiculous I'm going with Benny the bouncer on brain salad surgery

@@FOMMaintenanceHell yes! Weirdest ELP song ever.

@@FOMMaintenance I LOVE Benny. Love it. And it absolutely belongs on this album. Talk about dark!

@@AndyEdwardsDrummer The Only Way/Infinite Space is terrific.

Yes, "Hare" really only makes sense on the LP as a kind of intermission / comic relief while you flip the disk.

cool of you to mention this epic work, and I would not even recall that it had not vocals. Thus, that's no knock . Prog has nothing to do with the vocals really.

Oh yes Tully were great. I liked bands like Pirana too, even though they were more heavily influenced by Santana.

@@H-mu4bo yep, they sure were. Australia had so many interesting bands in the early 70's.

Was lucky enough to see Lamb lies Down in Kansas City. I didn’t even know they had released the album yet. Best concert I’ve ever seen and of course went out and bought the album the next day. Still have it albeit in tatters.

@@richardkuhn4303 Must have been incredible to witness a band take such a huge risk, playing mostly material unknown to the music loving public. The only other band I can think of doing that regularly during that time period was King Crimson, but mostly through improvisation.

Love King Crimson also, but was never lucky enough to see them.

@@richardkuhn4303 Saw them 5 times, each with different lineups. My fave lineup (72-74) is the one I missed and wished I saw. Speaking of which, why aren't any of their 70s albums on this list?

@@steverickenbacher7110 i’m going to try to see them in Nashville this fall, but it won’t be with Robert Fripp. I think they’re doing the “Discipline” material mostly

Steve Davis, that you?

Yer riah is looking too white Andy!

Lucifer's friend progressed too fast and too far for the groups own well being

Desperate Straights is a lovely, weird, sparkling thing. Slapp Happy were definitely more "art rock" than prog but a notable influence on Cardiacs. Blegvad is an extraordinary wordsmith, and a quite quirky songwriter too. He did some very interesting collaborations with Andy Patridge of XTC.

@@BrennanYoung i have the Partridge collaborations too.

I agree that Benefit is underrated. And Glen Cornick was an underrated bassist.