Before we start, a word about what this list of albums is, and what it probably isn’t. It’s not a list of the best prog albums of all time. Although many of these records would sit quite happily in such a list. Rather it is a list of albums that we here at Prog, along with musicians as diverse as Steven Wilson, Pete Trewavas, Carl Palmer, Mike Portnoy, Magenta’s Robert Reed, Mastodon, Tim Bowness, Ihsahn, Alan Reed and more have debated and see as being pivotal in the ongoing development of progressive music.
So albums that probably inspired the originators of progressive music. Many of the high points of the early classic era of the genre. But also, as progressive music has developed over the years, other albums force themselves into the equation, which we think at least makes the whole list an even more intriguing proposition. Not simply great records, but those that have acted as a signpost to where the music would inevitably head.