Progressive rock (shortened as prog; sometimes called art rock, classical rock or symphonic rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States throughout the mid- to late 1960s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its "progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing. Prog is based on fusions of styles, approaches and genres, involving a continuous move between formalism and eclecticism. Due to its historical reception, prog's scope is sometimes limited to a stereotype of long solos, long albums, fantasy lyrics, grandiose stage sets and costumes, and an obsessive dedication to technical skill. While the genre is often cited for its merging of high culture and low culture, few artists incorporated literal classical themes in their work to any great degree, and only a handful of groups purposely emulated or referenced classical music. The genre coincided with the mid-1960s economic boom that allowed record labels to allocate more creative control to their artists, as well as the new journalistic division between "pop" and "rock" that lent generic significance to both terms. Prog saw a high level of popularity in the early-to-mid-1970s, but faded soon after. Conventional wisdom holds that the rise of punk rock caused this, but several more factors contributed to the decline. Music critics, who often labelled the concepts as "pretentious" and the sounds as "pompous" and "overblown", tended to be hostile towards the genre or to completely ignore it. After the late 1970s, progressive rock fragmented in numerous forms. Some bands achieved commercial success well into the 1980s (albeit with changed lineups and more compact song structures) or crossed into symphonic pop, arena rock, or new wave. Early groups who exhibited progressive features are retroactively described as "proto-prog". The Canterbury scene, originating in the late 1960s, denotes a subset of prog bands who emphasised the use of wind instruments, complex chord changes and long improvisations. Rock in Opposition, from the late 1970s, was more avant-garde, and when combined with the Canterbury style, created avant-prog. In the 1980s, a new subgenre, neo-progressive rock, enjoyed some commercial success, although it was also accused of being derivative and lacking in innovation. Post-progressive draws upon newer developments in popular music and the avant-garde since the mid 1970s. Wikipedia

Chronology 1 / 3

Released Title Classification Artist Score Ratings
1969 Yes nice Yes 3.534 6935
1969 In the Court of the Crimson King excellent King Crimson 4.616 77596
1970 Atomic Rooster very good Atomic Rooster 3.745 1284
1970 Spooky Tooth & Pierre Henry good Spooky Tooth 3.246 578
1970 Atom Heart Mother very good Pink Floyd 3.663 27157
1970 Time and a Word nice Yes 3.464 6094
1970 Trespass very good Genesis 3.590 9947
1970 In the Wake of Poseidon excellent King Crimson 3.906 20209
1970 Lizard excellent King Crimson 3.970 16257
1970 If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You excellent Caravan 3.956 4339
1970 Gentle Giant excellent Gentle Giant 3.836 6133
1970 The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other excellent Van der Graaf Generator 3.869 4756
1970 H to He Who Am the Only One excellent Van der Graaf Generator 3.989 6536
1971 Pilgrimage excellent Wishbone Ash 3.842 1516
1971 Meddle excellent Pink Floyd 4.178 38633
1971 The Yes Album excellent Yes 4.028 16840
1971 Fragile excellent Yes 4.358 27382
1971 Nursery Cryme excellent Genesis 3.970 13538
1971 Aqualung excellent Jethro Tull 4.246 20905
1971 Islands very good King Crimson 3.818 15685
1971 In the Land of Grey and Pink excellent Caravan 4.146 10226
1971 Acquiring the Taste excellent Gentle Giant 4.033 6180
1971 Pawn Hearts excellent Van der Graaf Generator 4.002 9768
1972 ...Where the Groupies Killed the Blues nice Lucifer's Friend 3.497 460
1972 Close to the Edge excellent Yes 4.502 36566

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Progressive Rock