The 1974 Prog Year

[daoubourg]

So yeah, one can say that 74 was the lest one before it started declining

Nope, 'cause nothing was declining in 1975. That year was just great for the genre.
Someone can say that declining began in late autumn 1976, but this is also pretty questionable if we compare the number of sold copies of Wind & Wuthering LP in 1977 with Never Mind the Bollocks' "success" the same year.

[DoubleDrummer]

That concert event was the TV highlight of 1974! Just consider ELP and Deep Purple were the headliners; I remember it was split in several parts as part of the "In Concert series by Don Kirshner". It also featured: a very young and pre-mega stars Eagles, Seals & Crofts, Black Oak Arkansas and Black Sabbath. Not much prog except for ELP, but it was a gift from the heavens indeed.

I too remember seeing this concert on TV and it was a good one.
It was my first time to see Tommy Aldridge and I remember immediately thinking............."Why is this killer-good drummer playing in this crappy band?"
As time passed, I was proven exactly correct.

[ikedian]

Wow, I'd always imagined that in my head that 71-73 were the best years overall for prog, but now that I'm picking favorites there's probably more from 74 in my all time list than any of those years.

My top 10 and a rough rating for each
10/10
King Crimson - Red (one of my favorite albums of all time)
9/10
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Gentle Giant - The Power and the Glory
Henry Cow - Unrest
King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black
Yes - Relayer
Frank Zappa / The Mothers of Invention - Roxy and Elsewhere
8/10
Camel - Mirage
The Cosmic Jokers - The Cosmic Jokers
Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom

I love the two studio albums by Magma produced this year as well (Wurdah Itah and Kohntarkosz), but the studio recordings of the pieces don't really do justice to the music compared to the live recordings.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Strange how the (purported) greatness of a genre which set out to be deemed by creative standards is instead apparently judged by commercial valor.

First, the most advanced and often most challenging rock music of the 70s was arguably conceived some time between 1975-81, by which time the main bulk of "prog" had long since gone stagnant and ceased to deliver on its creative mandate. At this point music was being made in France, Germany, the Nordic countries, Eastern Europe, Northern and Latin America which moved beyond earlier efforts - and sometimes even far beyond them - naturally due to having evolved but also precisely because it took liberties completely in bliss of any commercial aspirations.

Second, in non-Anglophone areas progressive rock actually did reach its commercial zenith during that phase - 1975-81.

[Supersonic Scientist]

1974 was the year I got hooked.


That was also the year California Jam was broadcast on network TV.

Seeing Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and ELP on television was a gift from God in those days.

Truth be told !!!!...Amen...

[rickawakeman]

The year of my first Yesshow!
TFTO at MSG

[Soc Prof]

Happy the Man recorded some demos that year. They were released many years later on Beginnings.

[Rajaz]

This PROG cover says it all..

1974 PROG mag cover issue # 51.jpg

[daoubourg]

Strange how the (purported) greatness of a genre which set out to be deemed by creative standards is instead apparently judged by commercial valor.

First, the most advanced and often most challenging rock music of the 70s was arguably conceived some time between 1975-81, by which time the main bulk of "prog" had long since gone stagnant and ceased to deliver on its creative mandate. At this point music was being made in France, Germany, the Nordic countries, Eastern Europe, Northern and Latin America which moved beyond earlier efforts - and sometimes even far beyond them - naturally due to having evolved but also precisely because it took liberties completely in bliss of any commercial aspirations.

Second, in non-Anglophone areas progressive rock actually did reach its commercial zenith during that phase - 1975-81.

Eastern Europeans had all the genres of progressive music fully developed already in 1974. Even *prog-folk *!








Though, I agree with you that they had been releasing their best albums in the mid 70s to the early 80s.

[Scrotum Scissor]

^ I know, Svetonio. I've got those on vinyl.

[the ferret]

A very fine year indeed.

One I haven't noticed (apologies if I've missed it) is Barclay James Harvest's Everyone Is Everybody Else. Lovely album.

[GeneTull]

An exhaustive database of 1974 albums has been assembled by one of the Internet's foremost authorities on '70s music. It currently has 1,191 albums, complete with recommended tracks and a lengthy intro blurb that breaks the year down on a region-by-region scale. The progressive-quotient that year was quite high on a global scale, as evidenced across the following 12 pages:

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/Zarag...ittery-galore/

[Shadow]

An exhaustive database of 1974 albums has been assembled by one of the Internet's foremost authorities on '70s music. It currently has 1,191 albums, complete with recommended tracks and a lengthy intro blurb that breaks the year down on a region-by-region scale. The progressive-quotient that year was quite high on a global scale, as evidenced across the following 12 pages:

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/Zarag...ittery-galore/

I just went through the list, I must have bought a shitload of records that year.

[Fracktured]

I just went through the list, I must have bought a shitload of records that year.

It was one hell of a great year for rock music for sure. I was working at my first job and spent most of my money on records.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[presdoug]

Released in March of 1974 in Europe, and in North America in August of 1974, my prog guiding light, Triumvirat's Illusions On A Double Dimple, finally put the band on the musical map!

[PMG4ME]

Speaking of 1974 and Gary Burton, check this gem out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axD3Ln9m-qw

[Udi Koomran]

Albert Marcoeur 1st
Oldfield Hergest Ridge
Mahavishnu Orchestra Apocalypse

[Udi Koomran]

The last year in the Progressive Golden age 71-74

[Kcrimso]

My 1974 top ten:

1. King Crimson: Red (UK)
2. Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom (UK)
3. Yes: Relayer (UK)
4. Henry Cow: Unrest (UK)
5. Mike Oldfield: Hergest Ridge (UK)
6. Magma: Köhntarkösz (FR)
7. Gong: You (UK/FR)
8. Wigwam: Being (FI)
9. Peter Hammill: In Camera (UK)
10. Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (UK)

[Sputnik]

This is what I have in my spreadsheet for 1974, my top favorites highlighted:

Acqua Fragile: Mass Media Stars
Alusa Fallax: Intorno Alla Mia
Area: Caution Radiation Area
Arnold, Horacee: Tales of the Exonerated Flea
Arti + Mestieri: Tilt
Atlantis Philharmonic: Atlantis Philharmonic
Atmospheres featuring Clive Stevens & Friends: Voyage To Uranus
Atmospheres featuring Clive Stevens & Friends: Atmospheres
Banzai: Hora Nata
Blue Effect: Nova Synteza 2
Camel: Mirage
Contraction: La Bourse Ou La Vie
Cos: Postaeolian Train Robbery
Egg: The Civil Surface
Eleventh House, The: Introducing
Energy: Energy
Esposito, Toni: Rosso Napoletano
Exponent: Upside Down
Focus: Hamburger Concerto
Fred: Notes On A Picnic
Fusioon: Fusioon (Orange Cover)
Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Gentle Giant: The Power and the Glory
Gryphon: Red Queen to Gryphon Three
Henry Cow: Unrest
Jade Warrior: Floating World
Jethro Tull: Warchild
Kansas: Kansas
King Crimson: Starless and Bible Black
King Crimson: Red
Lift: Caverns of Your Brain
Light Year: Reveal the Fantastic
Mackay, Duncan: Chimera
Orme, Le: Contrappunti
Orquestra Mirasol: Salsa Catalana
Passport: Looking Thru
Premiata Forneria Marconi: L'Isola di Niente
Quella Vecchia Locanda: Il Tempo Della Gioia
Renaissance: Turn of the Cards
Return to Forever: Where Have I Known You Before
Snakes Alive: Snakes Alive
Supersister: Spiral Staircase
Tolonen, Jukka: The Hook
Tortilla Flat: Fur ein 3/4 Stündchen
Triumvirat: Illusions on a Double Dimple
Urbaniak, Michal: Atma
Urbaniak, Michal: Fusion
Utopia: Utopia
Volo, Il: Volo, Il
Yes: Relayer

Pretty damned good year, if you ask me.

Bill

[Zappathustra]

My 1974 top ten:

1. King Crimson: Red (UK)
2. Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom (UK)
3. Yes: Relayer (UK)
4. Henry Cow: Unrest (UK)
5. Mike Oldfield: Hergest Ridge (UK)
6. Magma: Köhntarkösz (FR)
7. Gong: You (UK/FR)
8. Wigwam: Being (FI)
9. Peter Hammill: In Camera (UK)
10. Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (UK)

Great list. Do you prefer In Camera to Silent Corner and Empty Stage from the same year?

[Zappathustra]

The year that the best band that ever was released its best album: Klossa Knapitatet

[Kcrimso]

Great list. Do you prefer In Camera to Silent Corner and Empty Stage from the same year?

Yes I do but only slightly. Both are great!

[Progatron]

Great list. Do you prefer In Camera to Silent Corner and Empty Stage from the same year?

Yes I do but only slightly. Both are great!

Both are stunning classics IMO, although I'll admit to not always being in the mood for Magog (In Bromine Chambers), which would have to give Silent Corner the slight advantage.