What are some of your favorite Progressive Rock/Art Rock or whatever, bands or albums of all time? How about some groups that people might not know?

Top 5 Prog./Art Bands: (IMO)
1. Pink Floyd
2. Yes
3. Rush
4. Jethro Tull
5. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (ELP)

Top 5 Prog./Art Albums: (IMO)
1. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
2. Rush - 2112
3. Yes - Close To The Edge
4. Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick
5. ELP - Brain Salad Surgery

Genesis

My favorite album of theirs is Selling England By The Pound. Or maybe it's Foxtrot......

Yes

My favorite Yes album is Tales from Topographic Oceans.

Pink Floyd

Animals is one of my top 10 albums of all time.

This is something of a new genre for me, though I can tell you now that none of the more famous prog bands are favorites of mine.

Some favorites include Nightingale, Arena, Enchant, Kaipa, Nektar, Knight Area, The Tangent, A Triggering Myth, to name a few.

1.) Dream Theater
2.) Stratovarius
3.) Rush
4.) Pink Floyd
5.) Genesis/ Yes

How are Nektar? I've been hearing their name a lot on and around this board, but have yet to hear any of their stuff. Any album suggestions?

1. Rush
2. Jethro Tull
3. Marillion
4. Pink Floyd
5. Genesis (especially there 70s stuff with Peter Gabriel)

All of the great bands mentioned already AND:

King Crimson
Gentle Giant
Spock's Beard
Van Der Graff Generator
Nektar
Eloy
Jade Warrior
Japan
Be Bop Deluxe
...

Yes
Genesis
Nektar
Pink Floyd
King Crimson
Spock's Beard

Hard to narrow down individual albums. I'll just pick a favorite for each of the above.

Yes - Tormato (not a fan favorite, but I've loved this album for decades. I get on Yes kicks all the time and will go through their catalog.)

Genesis - Seconds Out (Brilliant live album featuring some of the band's best early material.)

Nektar - Recycled (much like Yes - Tormato, Recycled isn't usually a fan favorite but it's been my favorite Nektar album since I discovered it in the 70's.)

Pink Floyd - Animals (see my comments on Tormato & Recycled. This one is a great album to kick back to late in teh evening while lying in bed)

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

Spock's Beard - Beware of Darkness

OK! I'll try a top 10 album list!

Pink Floyd - Animals
Yes - The Yes Album
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
Eloy - Dawn
Gentle Giant - Giant For a Day
Spock's Beard - Day For Night
Genesis - Trick of the Tail
Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (the 3rd one, with the melting face cover)
King Crimson - Disipline

That was just off the top of my head, I'm sure I missed many but those are all Genre Defining Albums for me!

No mention of The Flower Kings? Are they a well-liked band? Up until yesterday I only owned Paradox Hotel, which I loved. Now I have The Rainmaker and Unfold The Future, which I'm listening to right now at work, and they both seem excellent! I always avoided this band in the past because of their gay name! Haha. But they're pretty damn good.

Pink Floyd - Animals/Wish You Were Here (Favorite Floyd Albums)

Eloy- Colors
Camel- Stationary Traveler
Be Bop Deluxe- Drastic Plastic
Alphataurus- s/t (heavy Italian,1970)
Armaggedon- s/t (Keith Relf)
FM (canada)- City of Fear

I'm a total sucker for all of the "sellout" pop albums that almost every prog band made around 1980 when bands like Alan Parsons and Asia were hitting it big. Albums like Gentle Giant "Citizen" or Barclay James Harvest "Eyes of the Universe" (or Yes 90125). Sellout or not, these great musicians made some great Pop albums; which I often like better than their more subtle classics. More accessible for my short attention span I guess.

Porcupine Tree
Pink Floyd
Opeth
Riverside
Pelican

eyesore!
Good call on The Flower Kings!!! Ya Know mainman Roine Stolt was in Transatlantic with Neal Morse (Spock's Beard) Pete Trawvas (Marillion) & Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) BTW, I like earlier Flower Kings better! Check out Stardust We Are!!!

SAHB, Great list!!! I almost posted Armegeddon myself!!!

golgi, I can't beleive I missed Porcupine Tree!! Just too many great bands!!!

Dream Theater
Shadow Gallery
Spock's Beard
Ayreon
Neal Morse
Pink Floyd
Kansas
Salem Hill
Marillion
Rush
Magellan
Tempest
Cairo
Kemper Crabb
Proto Kaw
Yes
Destra
Arena
Ice Age
Mostly Autumn (Heather Findlay is HOT )
Pallas
Royal Hunt
Symphony X
Tiles
(obviously I'm a big fan of progressive music)

mines are;
Rush
Yes
UFO
Pink Floyd
Opeth
Dream Theater
Death

I've been on a Prog Rock kick for about a week now...loving the stuff...discovering some new stuff too...

GENESIS
SPOCK'S BEARD
KANSAS
KING CRIMSON
PORCUPINE TREE
PINK FLOYD
BIGELF
ASTRA
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX
ENCHANT

Plus some Post Rock/Post Metal:

LONG DISTANCE CALLING
JESU
MOGWAI
RED SPAROWES
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY
EARTH

Even what is being hailed as "Crossover Prog" like MUSE, GAZPACHO and RADIOHEAD...bands who flirt with traditional styles while pushing them to new areas....

Nice list Shawn! I've been on a major prog kick recently as well, trying to catch up on all the bands that I've missed out on over the years. Some of my "fairly recent" discoveries:

Opeth - quite simply a breathtaking band, one masterpiece after another.

Porcupine Tree - just starting to dig into their stuff, but man, it defies all categories (which means I love it).

Pelican - all instrumental "post-rock", I LOVE these guys!

Maserati - another good all-instrumental band from Athens Georgia.

Earth - whether it's called drone, post-rock or whatever, I call it awesome...especially the newer albums.

Excellent list, bro!

If you like OPETH, check out the new album by ENSLAVED called Vertebrae...strong 70s Prog influence on that album...

If you like PELICAN and EARTH, check out JESU and LONG DISTANCE CALLING...excellent stuff as well...

Dream Theater
Queensryche
Pink Floyd
Rush
Fates Warning
Kansas
Spock's Beard


Some favorite Prog/Art Rock albums

Dream Theater - I&W, Awake, SFAM, Train Of Thought, Octarium, BC&SL

Fates Warning - No Exit, Perfect Symentry, Disconnected

Rush - 2112

Pink Floyd - Animals, Wish You Were Here, The Wall

Queesnryche - Empire, Promised Land

KISS - Music From The Elder - I think this one qualifies as art rock!

Mastedon - Crack The Skye

Interesting that some bands have albums that qualify as Prog/Art Rock work, but are not Prog/Art Rock bands (see KISS)

Thanks for the recommendations Shawn, I'll be checking those out!

Good list, joker!

detuned - also if you want a blend of ELO, QUEEN, THE BEATLES, DEEP PURPLE and BLACK SABBATH, check out:

BIGELF - Cheat The Gallows...top shelf stuff!!!