RS Readers' Poll Ten Best Prog Albums of the 1970s

[rushgoober]

and where the f*ck is in the court of the crimson king?

 

It's in 1969.

 

oh right - got me on a technicality. should have been a best prog albums of the 60's & 70's list. there are so few albums from the 60's that would have been in contention anyway - that one, the aforementioned moody blues ( ) and a handful of others. most of the great prog works were from the 70's.

Edited August 29, 2013 by rushgoober

[lifeson90]

Prog Rock? I mean, Fripp always hated that moniker, and they are largely credited with founding it, along with The Moody Blues. Speaking o' which, In Search of the Lost Chord gets my vote and if Crimson gets one 70's album, I'd make it Larks' Tongues.

 

If I were gonna put The Floyd on a list, it'd be Pipers - it doesn't have to be all space ships and unicorns, though I think the readers nailed it with Close to the Edge. And RUSH? How about Permanent Waves? Not the 70s, you say? Okay, Caress of Steel. And Fly be Night. No, wait...

 

Permanent waves is a 70s album for all intents and purposes. Nothing on it happened in the 80s, except that when doors opened on Jan 1, people could buy the record.

 

Couldnt disagree more in a sense.. whenever they were actually written, hemispheres is so obviously a 70s album for me followed by waves which to me is so obviously an album of the 80s with a much more 'post modern' feel to it.

 

Waves may have begun in the very late 70s but was produced very much for a new decade and a new era of time and a new era of the band itself.

 

In other words, although obviously brilliant, hemispheres and AFTK etc sound from a kinda past era to me whereas permanent waves still sounds fresh and contemporary.

 

And probably always will to be honest.. is a proper avant garde piece of work.

Edited August 29, 2013 by lifeson90

[LedRush]

Prog Rock? I mean, Fripp always hated that moniker, and they are largely credited with founding it, along with The Moody Blues. Speaking o' which, In Search of the Lost Chord gets my vote and if Crimson gets one 70's album, I'd make it Larks' Tongues.

 

If I were gonna put The Floyd on a list, it'd be Pipers - it doesn't have to be all space ships and unicorns, though I think the readers nailed it with Close to the Edge. And RUSH? How about Permanent Waves? Not the 70s, you say? Okay, Caress of Steel. And Fly be Night. No, wait...

 

Permanent waves is a 70s album for all intents and purposes. Nothing on it happened in the 80s, except that when doors opened on Jan 1, people could buy the record.

 

Couldnt disagree more in a sense.. whenever they were actually written, hemispheres is so obviously a 70s album for me followed by waves which to me is so obviously an album of the 80s with a much more 'post modern' feel to it.

 

Waves may have begun in the very late 70s but was produced very much for a new decade and a new era of time and a new era of the band itself.

 

In other words, although obviously brilliant, hemispheres and AFTK etc sound from a kinda past era to me whereas permanent waves still sounds fresh and contemporary.

 

And probably always will to be honest.. is a proper avant garde piece of work.

 

Well, I'll disagree with you right back :D

 

Permanent Waves has always been a 70s album to me...very much in the sense of the earlier work. Moving Pictures feels like it straddles the decades. The 80s for me were always dominated by shorter, synth filled songs. The first half of MP doesn't fit this, and the second half almost does.

[bathory]

permanent waves might have complex music and two long songs but it sounds way different from every record before it and you can tell they'd been listening to the police, talking heads, peter Gabriel, etc, as well as bill bruford's stuff from the era.

[LedRush]

permanent waves might have complex music and two long songs but it sounds way different from every record before it and you can tell they'd been listening to the police, talking heads, peter Gabriel, etc, as well as bill bruford's stuff from the era.

 

Yes, but it sounds much more in line with the prog-era stuff than with the synth era stuff to my ears.

[Ged Lent's sis]

Prog Rock? I mean, Fripp always hated that moniker, and they are largely credited with founding it, along with The Moody Blues. Speaking o' which, In Search of the Lost Chord gets my vote and if Crimson gets one 70's album, I'd make it Larks' Tongues.

 

If I were gonna put The Floyd on a list, it'd be Pipers - it doesn't have to be all space ships and unicorns, though I think the readers nailed it with Close to the Edge. And RUSH? How about Permanent Waves? Not the 70s, you say? Okay, Caress of Steel. And Fly be Night. No, wait...

 

Permanent waves is a 70s album for all intents and purposes. Nothing on it happened in the 80s, except that when doors opened on Jan 1, people could buy the record.

 

Couldnt disagree more in a sense.. whenever they were actually written, hemispheres is so obviously a 70s album for me followed by waves which to me is so obviously an album of the 80s with a much more 'post modern' feel to it.

 

Waves may have begun in the very late 70s but was produced very much for a new decade and a new era of time and a new era of the band itself.

 

In other words, although obviously brilliant, hemispheres and AFTK etc sound from a kinda past era to me whereas permanent waves still sounds fresh and contemporary.

 

And probably always will to be honest.. is a proper avant garde piece of work.

 

LedRush is right. In fact the album represents an exclamation point on Rush's seventies work and is in that respect—if you'll pardon my choice of words—a triumph. But lifeson90 is correct that it stands out as an avant garde piece of work. Nevertheless, it stands out on its own, apart from both what came before it and after it. Still, if I had to say which album it resembled more, it would have to be its predecessor, not its follow up. I mean, Jacobs Ladder is so Hemispheres I feel silly having to bring it up.

 

Interesting is something Peart established in writing with AtWaS: "This album to us, signifies the end of the beginning, a milestone to mark the close of chapter one, in the annals of Rush." That was my intro to the band, and the PeW Tour was my first concert. I remember thinking when I read those words, and counting the albums since then, "one, two, three..." and sure enough, after four came their second live LP, Exit...

 

With that in mind I have never been able to separate aFtK, Hem, PeW, and MP as chapter two, and I dare-say the band themselves laid it out that way as well. And what I said about Jacob's Ladder's Hemisphere flavor... The Camera Eye, anyone?

[Steevo]

Prog Rock? I mean, Fripp always hated that moniker, and they are largely credited with founding it, along with The Moody Blues. Speaking o' which, In Search of the Lost Chord gets my vote and if Crimson gets one 70's album, I'd make it Larks' Tongues.

 

If I were gonna put The Floyd on a list, it'd be Pipers - it doesn't have to be all space ships and unicorns, though I think the readers nailed it with Close to the Edge. And RUSH? How about Permanent Waves? Not the 70s, you say? Okay, Caress of Steel. And Fly be Night. No, wait...

 

Permanent waves is a 70s album for all intents and purposes. Nothing on it happened in the 80s, except that when doors opened on Jan 1, people could buy the record.

 

Couldnt disagree more in a sense.. whenever they were actually written, hemispheres is so obviously a 70s album for me followed by waves which to me is so obviously an album of the 80s with a much more 'post modern' feel to it.

 

Waves may have begun in the very late 70s but was produced very much for a new decade and a new era of time and a new era of the band itself.

 

In other words, although obviously brilliant, hemispheres and AFTK etc sound from a kinda past era to me whereas permanent waves still sounds fresh and contemporary.

 

And probably always will to be honest.. is a proper avant garde piece of work.

 

Couldn't agree more :)

[sitboaf]

Permanent waves is a 70s album for all intents and purposes. Nothing on it happened in the 80s, except that when doors opened on Jan 1, people could buy the record.

Couldnt disagree more in a sense.. whenever they were actually written, hemispheres is so obviously a 70s album for me followed by waves which to me is so obviously an album of the 80s with a much more 'post modern' feel to it.

Waves may have begun in the very late 70s but was produced very much for a new decade and a new era of time and a new era of the band itself.

In other words, although obviously brilliant, hemispheres and AFTK etc sound from a kinda past era to me whereas permanent waves still sounds fresh and contemporary

 

PeW and MP are so good that they're timeless. They exist outside of a specific decades…nay…outside of time itself.

[Spindrift82]

No King Crimson?