so. i've been listening to prog for years, but i've had a really hard time getting into the original stuff. the best i can do is 'the lamb lies down on broadway' because peter gabriel brings out my inner 12 year old girl and i adore anything he does.

i've been listening through my "classic prog" collection today and still not getting it. yes, king crimson, pink floyd... give me a hand, guys, because i feel like a turd for not appreciating the music that so many of my favorites stem from. it feels so noodly and undynamic. there's not enough depth of sound happening for me which is one of the things i love most about more modern progressive music - there's so much happening, so many layers to get caught up in. it's vast and atmospheric, but i simply do not get that from any of the first wave stuff.

point me toward something exceptionally cool, preferably in the form of full albums, not youtube videos. explain it to me. anything. you people have pretty good taste.

Relax, you don't have to adore it... I have a few of these, too. I liked them before i knew Devin and Metal which i discovered 10 years ago, because i always liked bombastic and virtuous stuff. Since then i rarely listen to them anymore because they don't really can give much more to me. Everything what i liked about it has been flattened by Devin, because he did almost everything much better than they did (for my taste).

I have 6 or 7 Yes-albums and liked "Going for the one" the most. The song "Parallels" is fun, "Awaken" is quite atmospheric, i like the organ... Never got into Fragile, Close to the Edge (which has a few cool moments, i guess) or Relayer. But I always liked their bass player very much.

If you like "Lamb" by Genesis, you may like "Selling England by the Pound" for the same reasons. Never got into other old Genesis-albums.

I terms of Pink Floyd: I think "Meddle" was a really great one, mostly because of "Echoes". Haven't heard it for a long time, will do after i find the CD...

If you want to count Marillion in, i loved "Misplaced Childhood" since my childhood, but it's not very "proggy" and not very "classic".

Never got into "Court of the Crimson King" as well, except for the very beginning.

"Tales of Mystery and Imagination" by Alan Parsons is a great classic, not very noodly, great dynamics, great bass, superb sound. But also not very "proggy".

(I have the same "problem" with classic metal - i just can't get into Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Sabbath etc...)

a friend of mine suggested i give king crimson's 'larks tongue in aspic' a listen. still not massively into it, but it's much more interesting than court of the crimson king.

as for marillion, i'm just starting to discover the fish era stuff. 'clutching at straws' is really great, but i still get too much of a "i'm going to be like peter gabriel" vibe from him to enjoy it as much as i enjoy the hogarth era material.

dev and steven wilson have pretty much ruined everything else for me... 'idiot prayer' alone is enough to put me off bothering with other music. HAHA. every time i DJ and play that song, someone come sup to me begging to know what it is.

i'll give this stuff a spin later when i'm not... like... mostly wasted. huur durr.

Van Der Graaf Generator.

[EphelDuath666]

Never got into "Court of the Crimson King" as well, except for the very beginning.

heathen!!!

Queen II.
And Sheer Heart Attack being that I gather you're probably high energy like me.

Well, you won't get the polished production from modern prog bands, but:

Jethro Tull- Thick As A Brick, Aqualung, Minstrel In The Gallery.

TAAB is essential, it is incredibly layered and complex, serves as the influence for Porcupine Tree. The instrumentation is second to none. Looking for dynamics? Look no further.

Aqualung is a classic.

Yes- Fragile, Close To The Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans. All these are full of epics, dense layers and majestic structure.

Camel- Moonmadness. Want to know where Opeth and Ayreon get their ideas? Give this a listen.

Mahavishnu Orchestra- Birds Of Fire

For more song-oriented stuff, I would go for your standard Wish You Were Here and King Crimson's Larks Tongues in Aspic.

Just look around and build on what you like. These albums are just my favourites from my favourite music genre

SSWWWEEEETTT.

I don't know if it will fit your criteria for old prog, but Fates Warning's Awaken the Guardian is a themed prog power metal album.
Very unique vocals, and great atmosphere.

late edit : oh yea and I'd say you have pretty good taste too, so you know, don't force music on yourself if you are not feeling it. Maybe you'll appreciate more later on in your life.

+1 on Camel

Also check out the greatest band that no-one has ever heard of: Kingston Wall.

Not classic era prog - they were around late 80's, a Finnish band who never got signed but were legends in Helsinki, so I am told. But fricking awesome stuff. Loads on You Tube.

Also check out the greatest band that no-one has ever heard of: Kingston Wall.

Not classic era prog - they were around late 80's, a Finnish band who never got signed but were legends in Helsinki, so I am told. But fricking awesome stuff. Loads on You Tube.

Yeah! Absolutely one of my favorite bands ever. And quite legendary around here, indeed. It was actually the early 90's, but they really got the old vibe amazingly well

Also check out the greatest band that no-one has ever heard of: Kingston Wall.

Not classic era prog - they were around late 80's, a Finnish band who never got signed but were legends in Helsinki, so I am told. But fricking awesome stuff. Loads on You Tube.

Yeah! Absolutely one of my favorite bands ever. And quite legendary around here, indeed. It was actually the early 90's, but they really got the old vibe amazingly well

I happened upon them quite by chance. Utterly unknown over here AFAIK. Can't understand why. Petri Walli was clearly on another level musically. Very sad.

+1 for Kingston Wall!!

I was able to see them live once before the breakup... The amount of musical genius lost with one man makes me cry when I listen to their stuff