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 4 / 5

Released Title Classification Artist Score Ratings
1977 Animals excellent Pink Floyd 4.291 50939
1978 Hemispheres excellent Rush 4.063 2970
1978 Wind & Wuthering excellent Genesis 3.878 7640
1980 Permanent Waves excellent Rush 4.062 11680
1981 Discipline excellent King Crimson 4.198 25218
1981 Moving Pictures excellent Rush 4.292 20747
1982 Signals excellent Rush 3.892 7426
1984 Grace Under Pressure very good Rush 3.793 5976
1993 Up the Downstair very good Porcupine Tree 3.687 4413
1994 Promised Land nice Queensrÿche 3.491 1903
1995 The Sky Moves Sideways very good Porcupine Tree 3.822 5978
1996 Signify very good Porcupine Tree 3.809 6065
1999 Stupid Dream excellent Porcupine Tree 4.040 8020
2000 Lightbulb Sun excellent Porcupine Tree 3.896 8487
2002 Bona Fide good Wishbone Ash 3.299 159
2002 In absentia excellent Porcupine Tree 4.080 16438
2003 Damnation excellent Opeth 3.969 14768
2005 Deadwing excellent Porcupine Tree 3.952 917
2007 Fear of a Blank Planet excellent Porcupine Tree 4.098 14336
2007 The Power of Eternity good Wishbone Ash 3.113 171
2008 Insurgentes excellent Steven Wilson 3.836 4593
2011 Grace for Drowning excellent Steven Wilson 3.842 4558
2013 The Mountain excellent Haken 4.078 3891
2013 The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) excellent Steven Wilson 3.962 9350
2015 Hand. Cannot. Erase. excellent Steven Wilson 4.014 6550

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Progressive Rock