What album took the biggest leap as far as prog as you knew it?

[per anporth]

I bought Vital, hoping for/expecting more Theme 1 - that was a pretty harsh awakening.

In jazz, the opening track on Sun Ship - it's almost "punk jazz" (the line from this to Acoustic Ladyland is short & direct), but it also opened up for me the space that Coltrane went to with Pharaoh Sanders & Rashid Ali.

Unknown Pleasures got me into post-punk.

Possibly the biggest change in my listening habits came when I heard Tack>>head, & especially the lp Tack>>head Tape Time.

[Lopez]

Did they??? That line was nicked from the first Silver Apples LP.

You are right about the Silver Apples debut. I remember that now. For some reason I've equated it with Lark's Tongues. Maybe I just felt the same way about it.

[Bake 2]

-In trying to look at what other albums were around at the time it might be fair to single out Hendrix, pre 70's Zappa, King Crimson's 1st, Can, Kraftwerk, Amon Duul II and early Soft Machine.
-Beefheart, for a lot of people the vocals are a non starter, but a compilation of all his instrumentals (along w/ Kandy Korn & Veteran's Day Poppy) should clear up at least a few misconceptions about the Magic Band(s).
-Did seem like Lark's Tongues In Aspic changed how the sensory equipment worked for most people who bothered to really give it a listen. During the same period and even a bit earlier the electric Miles Davis units and their diaspora put some new cracks in the ground, (especially Lifetime and later McLaughlin w/ Devotion and Inner Mounting Flame).
-Van Der Graaf, King Crimson and ELP influence show up on a lot of good prog albums, (especially in Italy). Magma, Henry Cow, Gentle Giant, and some great Canterbury stuff also seemed to be pushing some edges.
-Always thought the 1st Kollektiv and Trettioariga Kriget albums (73 and 74) added something that wasn't there before and sometimes get a bit overlooked. Rypdal/Whenever I Seem To Be Far Away also provided a good jolt.
-Holdsworth, like it or not, influenced and continues to influence a lot of the music that this site is about.
-Present, UZ and later in the 90's and early 2000's Tipographica, Don Cabellero, Upsilon Acrux, Zs and Hella are a few of the bands that managed to burn a few new nerve endings.

[interbellum]

The first UK .. in that it gave me hope that Prog was not yet quite dead yet.

Plus, for me, it was .. "Who are these Holdsworth and Jobson fellas???"

I guess, looking back, this album is also for me the "game changer" in progressive rock.

[hippypants]

FZ & Mothers-- Freak Out, and first three lps
Beefhearts--Clear Spot
Tangerine Dream--Phaedra
Univers Zero--Uzed
Radiohead--Kid A

[Vic2012]

VDGG - Pawn Hearts. That was deepest end of the prog pool for me (VDGG in general). That's deep enough for me.....

[Nashorn]

For me it definitely was Fred Frith - Step Across The Border.

I was already familiar with Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Eno and Mahavishnu. Then a fellow student told me to go see this documentary, which was quite new then and came to a cinema in our town.
The film opened up a whole new universe of music for me. I immediately bought the CD and listened to it a lot. It was (and remains) a major influence although it took quite some time until I started to play improvised music myself.

[markwoll]

A very hard question for me to answer.
At various times something like you describe 'happens'. Sometimes the music is "Prog", sometimes 'prog-like', sometimes Not prog.

I was pretty familiar with Prog when I first heard Diamondhead by Phil Manzanera ( 1975-6ish). Robert Wyatt singing Frontera just flipped a switch in my brain. The rest of the album too. This lead me to Roxy Music, Eno, Quiet Sun, etc.
I sort of tolerated alt-country to share concerts with my wife. It was ok. Emmylou Harris released Wrecking Ball (1995 ) that changed my opinion to a much more positive one for the genre.
In more than a few cases it was the choice of producer ( see above) that made the difference for the band. That change of sound. A joint effort between band and producer, but probably not possible for the band alone.
As noted KC Discipline was a real head turner.

[Scrotum Scissor]

For me it definitely was Fred Frith - Step Across The Border. [film]

The single greatest cinematic "rock portrait" ever created, IMHO.

[The Dark Elf]

Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

That a popular band could leave the realm of hit singles and individual radio-format songs and release an album that was both melodic and musically adventurous - oh, and by the way, have the album as one single, continuous composition - yet still be hummable and accessible (and not some overly prog time-signature-shifting endless run of instrumental noodling), is in itself one of the remarkable accomplishments of 1970s prog rock.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

I'd have to say for me, it was Gentle Giant's "Free Hand". I got it when it first came out and didn't "get it" at all. Now, it seems mainstream, but back then, was a bridge over the prog Rubicon!

[Kcrimso]

The single greatest cinematic "rock portrait" ever created, IMHO.

I still have not seen that one...

[Vic2012]

When I first heard CTTE (the track), I didn't "get it." I persisted. After the third spin it had me by the throat.

[Marco]

Köhntarkösz and Larks opened new rifts in the fabric of music, that's for sure.

[JKL2000]

I've mentioned this before, but the first adventurous (IMO) music I took a liking to was Perrey Kingsley's "The In Sound from Way Out." I used to listen to that LP a LOT when I was 9 or 10 - I borrowed it from my older brother. Such fun to listen to!

[Steve983]

For me the Yes period from Close to the Edge to Going for the One is the most amazing unique music ever made and has never been equalled by anyone else. None of the other prog bands showed the same leap of ambition or imagination. Of course I have not listened to every album ever made so its just my opinion. Also I could never get into King Crimson which so many rave about, I only like the first album.

Sent from my SM-T290 using Tapatalk

[JKL2000]

I like Yes a lot, but I've never been as passionate about the band as some people are. I know the same can be said about most bands I like - there's always going to bepeople more into it, or "even more" interested than me. While I feel they belong in the "big five" or whatever, I was always still somehow a casual fan. I have most of their albums, but for example, I think I was among the latest in getting around to listening to Drama, which I know is a favorite for many, and I've never heard even a note of Open Your Eyes! (I always think to myself that one day I'll have a little "listening party" on my own and listen to OYE. While I don't exect to like it, it's still got to be somrwhat interesting to finally hear the album so many love to hate!)

One reason for this is that I didn't start listening to Yes until about 1982, so there really haven't been that many opportunites to see Yes (with Anderson) live in the Northeast since then. I only saw them twice with derson - once was ABWH and the other time was the Union tour. Then I've seen Post-Anderson Yes twice on CTTE, and I saw ARW once. That's it. A result of this is that I couldn't care less about the band's personal drama, thus I've never really known all that much about the personalities involved aside from Bruford since he used to be such a busy boy. I've also seen him twice with KC and twice solo.

Anyway, I'm not putting down Yes at all or Steve983's choice. I'm just explaining Yes' standing with me, because I think that's something we all need to be very honest and up-front about to maintain healthy relationships.

[Trane]

Late on the debate (as usual)

Difficult to answer the question, since my first touch with rock was Tull's Stand Up (age 6), well before the Beatles/Stones thing.

And my first albums bought with my own money (+/- 11) were prog albums (COTC, SEBTP, DSOTM, CTTE, ITLOG&P, ITCOTCK, etc...), so I suppose I never thought rock was "limited". I did fall on weird stuff (see below), and didn't get rid of them (like I did for UFO or Slade albums) and went back to them every year or two.

When I first listened to VDGG it was Pawn Hearts, and it was too soon! I wasn't ready for it, and I reacted like a baby sucking a lemon.

Yup, that was a "terrible" mistake starting out on that one (still thinks that it's the toughest VdGG out there). I knew there was something to it but didn't understand it (it would take almost two decades before I finally "got it". Pretty sure that if I started with The Least or Godbluff, it wouldn't have taken soo long. Had some hard times with TD's Zeit as well.
Lark's Tongue was also one of those, but it was easier for me, because I oned their first four - and liked them (not equally though). Crimson was defiinitely a harder thing to grasp than Floyd, Genesis, Supertramp, Yes, ELP etc...

I started grasping the RIO/Avant stuff in the early/mid-90's, once I discovered UZ, AZ and Present, but also Samla's Maltid and HC's Legend while borrowing them through our library system.

For me, it's easily Gentle Giant's The Power and the Glory (though it could have been any album from Acquiring the Taste through Interview, it just happens Power and the Glory was the first I heard).

that's another one (not TP&TG, but GG in general) that took some 15 years and in the meantime, I'd fallen on Caravanserai, Birds Of Fire, Black Saint, Bitches Brew and Coltrane in the 80's. In the early 90's, GG clicked it fairly easily.

[alanterrill]

I've been listening to prog/avant-prog and that general area for around 50 years now, so its not often that something new really tests my understanding - one such was Gosta Berlings Saga's second album Detta Hara Hant. I loved the first album and ordered the second one on trust - I was immediatley taken with the time signatures and the masses of vintage keyboards, but they had a new guitaritst, Einar Baldursson, and he was quite wild, but more than that he frequently played off key. The first few listens made me wince during some of the guitar sections but the music was so good, it didn't put me right off, and I warmed to it, and now it just sounds 'normal' and I no longer think about it. He was a remarkable guitarist and I wonder if he's done anything good since leaving the band? This little clip is the best I could find of his style:

[Steve F.]

Alan

I agree that Einar is a great player, although I never noticed anything off key!

[Lebofsky]

Albums that blew my mind and added new unforeseen dimensions to my whole "prog" landscape.

Slint "Spiderland"
Massacre "Killing Time"
Mr. Bungle S/T
Monks of Doom "Soundtrack to the Film 'Breakfast on the Beach of Deception'"

- Matt

[spellbound]

[SunRunner2]

In my experience with progressive rock music, the greatest "leaps" (or quantum jumps) from what I listened to before and what I discovered within the 1973-1974 awakening period are as follows:

Tangerine Dream's "Phaedra" - My introduction to progressive electronic and what an ear opener that was for a younger, 20-something lad. I am surprised that more posters haven't included electronic albums and artists in their choices as no other single discovery changed my way of listening and thinking about music than T-Dream and the other electronic artists that would be fascinating me for years to come (and still do). When I bought the import version at Caper's Corner in Shawnee Mission KS and put it on the turntable that evening, I was nonplussed at what I heard coming from those speakers. Just amazing.

Genesis' "Selling England By The Pound" - My first listening experience with what was to become my favorite band and it didn't begin well. I thought that it was a waste of money and put it away for a few weeks. Gave it another listen or two and Bang, it drew me in for life! It was so different from what I listened to previously that I knew I was going to delve into the later (and earlier) releases as fast a I could get them. If I had to name one album as my favorite of all time, this would be it. An astonishing pinnacle of Progressive/Art Rock.

Heldon's "Électronique Guérilla" - While categorized as progressive electronic, Heldon's works were always nosier and darker, with Fripp influences, but their debut was played with an AKS synth and a 1957 Gibson Les Paul (with back-up rhythm guitar on some tracks). It was maximum sound in a minimalist format and for some reason, I was drawn into the challenge of it. I went on to buy all 7 studio albums and the first 5 Pinhaus solo releases.

Moody Blues "Threshold Of A Dream" - This set my course to come for dreamy, orchestrated rock and although "Children's Children" is their greatest achievement in my view, this album grabbed me by the psyche and drew me into the Moodies world. Although released in 1969, I first heard it in 1973. I was familiar with "Nights In White Satin" as a single earlier, but this was my first headlong plunge into their album works.

[JKL2000]

I've been listening to prog/avant-prog and that general area for around 50 years now, so its not often that something new really tests my understanding - one such was Gosta Berlings Saga's second album Detta Hara Hant. I loved the first album and ordered the second one on trust - I was immediatley taken with the time signatures and the masses of vintage keyboards, but they had a new guitaritst, Einar Baldursson, and he was quite wild, but more than that he frequently played off key. The first few listens made me wince during some of the guitar sections but the music was so good, it didn't put me right off, and I warmed to it, and now it just sounds 'normal' and I no longer think about it. He was a remarkable guitarist and I wonder if he's done anything good since leaving the band? This little clip is the best I could find of his style:

Alan, were you on rec.music.progressive? Or did you write for one of the prog magazines? I feel like I've known your name for a long time, but not so much from PE. - Jed

[alanterrill]

Hi - I used to write reviews for the magazine Audion and I did do an article on VDGG for Record Collector a long time back, that's possibly where you may have seen my name.