One Prog Album from a Non-Prog Band

[Progbear]

Split Enz - Mental Notes '76 : most known for their quirky haircuts and MTV exposure in the 80's, this slab of cool prog predated that by a few years...

Second Thoughts is a prog album, too, though most of it is a re-recording of songs from MN.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath?

You’ll find about as much prog on this album as you’ll find cheese in a loaf of headcheese. And that includes that annoying song where they screw around with a synthesizer.

Only half an album but side two of Sad Cafe's Fanx Ta-Ra is proggy as all get out. Side one, like the rest of their albums, is not.

I guess the “Fanx Ta-Ra” suite was probably an outgrowth of their work with Dave “Mandalaband” Rohl. It’s more fusion-y than one would expect based on that, though.

It's not 'prog' but see also The Four Seasons' 'Genuine Imitation Life Gazette' which is a tour de force of elaborate arrangements and suitably 'trippy' production effects.

It was their psychedelic indulgence; most bands were entitled to at least one in the late 60s (see also the Buckinghams’ Portraits and Tommy James’ aforementioned Cellophane Symphony). They also took stabs at blue-eyed soul (Chameleon) and proto-disco funk (Who Loves You). The title of Helicon (the flop follow-up to Who Loves You) suggests that it is the fabled full-blown prog experiment we were all wishing they’d do, but sadly is not.

The Human Menagerie by Cockney Rebel

Primarily a pop album but absolutely full of original ideas.

Check out the two epics: Sebastian and Death Trip for their prog content.

Whether his early albums were prog or not, they certainly were overblown and pretentious enough to be equated with prog albums.

[Shadow]

Bloodrock - Whirlwind Tongues

[GuitarGeek]

Far from it. Making Movies and the debut were their best albums, according to most lists and most fans, myself included.

Been a long time since I've listened to the first Dire Straits, but I'm absolutely in agreement on Making Movies. Side one of that album is one of the most perfect LP sides one can imagine. Dren, I need to play something off that on next week's Journey Of The Sorcerer's Apprentice (if I can find the frelling CD, that is).

Edit: Good news! My Making Movies CD turned out to be in exactly the first place I looked for it!

[bob_32_116]

Far from it. Making Movies and the debut were their best albums, according to most lists and most fans, myself included.

I'm not interested in "most lists and most fans", only in my opinion and your opinion.

By that reasoning, Brothers In Arms was the best, because it sold the most, therefore was the most popular.

[GuitarGeek]

By that reasoning, Brothers In Arms was the best, because it sold the most, therefore was the most popular.

You know why Brothers In Arms was such a big album? Two reasons:

1. That silly (but fun) video for Money For Nothing, which propelled it into being a huge hit

and

2. Because it was recorded digitally and was released just as CD players were catching on, it somehow became THE album that everyone inexplicably had to own on CD. Apparently.

[bob_32_116]

I liked Money For Nothing when it came out, but I now don't care if I never hear it again.

Best Dire Straits IMO: eponymous, Making Movies and Love Over Gold. Communique has some good songs but several weak ones. Hanven't heard On Every Street in full. I would probably like Brothers in Arms more if the airwaves had not been saturated with it in the late 1980's.

[Lopez]

Phish's album Hoist. Been a long time since I listened to it and remember it being more progressive than their usual jam-band fare.

[Scrotum Scissor]

The first album by Dragon, which I haven't heard, is supposed to be progressive in nature. That certainly changed when they moved to Australia and became hitmakers.

The first two Dragon records are both bonafide "prog-rock" albums.

As for Ambrosia, their second album was even more colourful and ablaze in tricky arrangements than their debut.

Grateful Dead's music was at its most formally intricate on Anthem pf the Sun and later on both Blues for Allah and Terrapin Station.

And Strawbs... Were deep in the "prog" syrup already by the time of Bursting at the Seams. Most "prog" chroniclers would agree on that, although I never regarded them as particularly "prog". Ridiculous term by the way - "prog"; seeing how no one knows or agrees on what it implies anyway.

[Progbear]

Bloodrock - Whirlwind Tongues

Passage is a prog album, too. And you can actually hear a bit of a transition to that sound on U.S.A. (hideous cover aside, the best thing they did other than their debut).

[cavgator]

Bloodrock - Passage, with new member Warren Ham on organ and flute. A Tull-tinged Bloodrock.

They had proggy moments on their earlier stuff (Breach of Lease, even D.O.A.), however...

EDIT: Beat me to it, Bear...

[progeezer]

Far from it. Making Movies and the debut were their best albums, according to most lists and most fans, myself included.

Yup!

[mogrooves]

"A Meal You Can Shake Hands With in the Dark" alone is worth it being considered prog

.... as are Thousands On A Raft and Things May Come.....

[iguana]

some from the electronica department:

FAiTHLESS – “no roots”
THE FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON – “dead cities” and “lifeforms”
GOLDIE – “timeless”

try these for size. they are all excellent.

[Scrotum Scissor]

some from the electronica department:

FAiTHLESS – “no roots”
THE FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON – “dead cities” and “lifeforms”
GOLDIE – “timeless”

try these for size. they are all excellent.

Several titles by Autechre and Squarepusher would fit as well. The FSoL's Dead Cities is a remarkably intricate piece of electronic composition.

An album I haven't seen mentioned yet is Synchronicity by The Police; about half of it would arguably qualify. Been two decades since I last heard it, though.

[JJ88]

Steve Harley's albums are wonderful- all those portentous, epic and highly dramatic songs like 'Death Trip', 'Sebastian', 'Cavaliers', 'Tumbling Down' etc. A great shame he's best known really for one hit single- which is good but there's much more to his work. I do remember him mentioning he did like and go and see some of the prog bands on his Radio 2 radio show many years ago now (like 2001/2). Really I see him as being more part of the 'intelligent' end of glam-rock like Bowie and Roxy Music.

[Oreb]

Synchronicity by The Police

Didn't Ian Anderson call The Police 'the last prog rock band' or words to that effect?

[klothos]

An album I haven't seen mentioned yet is Synchronicity by The Police;

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[Scrotum Scissor]

Page 1, Post 16

My bad.

[klothos]

im just glad somebody else besides me agrees that the album is very proggish --- considering I got 0 responses from mentioning it, I figured the claim was a hard-sell around these parts

[Scratch]

I would place Live Alchemy at the top of Dire Straits albums, simply because it's their big double live album and it really flows extremely well. From there, I'd go with their first, then MM, LoG, Communique, BiA,, On Every St, then On the Night, which was basically redundant.

On Every St was very well done and had some nice moments, but it was basically a Knopfler solo album for all intents and purposes.

[Scrotum Scissor]

im just glad somebody else besides me agrees that the album is very proggish --- considering I got 0 responses from mentioning it, I figured the claim was a hard-sell around these parts

Both Summers and Sumner (uh, Sting) had certain (if somewhat distant) Canterbury connections - and Copeland had obviously played with Curved Air (and his own very peculiar group, Frolk Haven). So there's little wonder.

[Azol]

I would place Live Alchemy at the top of Dire Straits albums, simply because it's their big double live album and it really flows extremely well. From there, I'd go with their first, then MM, LoG, Communique, BiA,, On Every St, then On the Night, which was basically redundant.

On Every St was very well done and had some nice moments, but it was basically a Knopfler solo album for all intents and purposes.

1) Alchemy is not a studio album
2) Comparing MM and LoG, the question was not "name your favorite album" but "name the proggiest album from a non-prog band". Which is not neccessarily the same album! (in case of Dire Straits it works for me though).

[BravadoNJ]

ELO- Time
Tom Petty- The Last DJ

[Lopez]

The first album by The Latin Playboys who were mostly Los Lobos.

[Calabasas_Trafalgar]

.... as are Thousands On A Raft and Things May Come.....

...but those are Piblokto albums...