Progressive rock’s emergence represented the moment that rock n’ roll grew up and decided it wasn’t going to merely rely on making people dance any longer. This wasn’t cool music anymore, but it sure was clever. It was book-smart and technically capable.

It wasn’t jazz, either. This was music that took you on a journey, having more in common with folk tales and fantasy games than with motorcycle gangs or music teachers dressed in turtleneck shirts.

I’m not just a musician in a punk band. The first albums that made any serious impression on me were by prog-rock bands Pink Floyd and Yes. Since then I’ve become a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. I’ve also been reviewing bands for over a decade, having thus far written about more 5.000 groups on Alt77 alone. Prog has continued to have a special place in my critic’s heart.

Everything about progressive music was oversized. And against all the naysayers and prophecies, it lives, thrives, and records made during its golden era still sell in bucketloads.

There are many important progressive bands which have been started recently. But today, we are focusing on the very best, old and new. I am talking about the bands who wrote great concept albums, who tried to turn rock into a respectable art form, and, more often than not, wore their LARPing gear on stage. I am counting down the greatest prog-rock bands of all-time.

The 100 Best Prog-Rock Bands of All-Time

1. Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd was “trippy” before it was “progressive.” At least, that’s what highly devoted fans thought of the band’s evolution. Starting out as a vehicle for architecture students to spread rock’n’ roll to the outer reaches of its psychedelic potential, and led by the eccentricities of Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd was the hit of underground London.

Barrett, by most accounts, sadly, went mad. It meant that The Floyd had to retreat, for a while, into free-form experimentation and reduce the number of pop moments in the vein of “See Emily Play.”

It wasn’t the dead end that everyone predicted. Due to the efforts of the early 1970s, the music world was ready for a bit more complexity. This had been just what Roger Waters had been pining for. Waters’ philosophical laments of “Dark Side of the Moon” and “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” made the band, less so the band members, into a superstar group.

This is the period of the band’s history with which I first became familiar. Back when I was a kid and in the place where I was from, ’70s Pink Floyd records were treated like religious artefacts that one had to trade a bike or a stack of cash for. I soaked up those albums, daydreaming of what England must be, this mix of psychedelia and world-weary cynicism as my only guide. Travelling to the UK years later, I was pleased to find out that Roger Waters had not lied to me one bit.

By the time of “The Wall,” every nuance of their music was pored over by serious critics, not like an idiot writing these words. And, even though sans Waters, things took a turn for the poppier under David Gilmour’s rule, Pink Floyd remained the great prog-rock band by which most others are judged. To think it all started with a bunch of strobe lights in a London cellar.

Deepen your Pink Floyd studies with:

• Pink Floyd Albums Ranked from Worst to Best
• Syd Barrett’s Albums Ranked from Worst to Best
• “Wish You Were Here” Reviewed and Revisited
• The Song Story and Meaning of “Comfortably Numb”

2. Yes

Yes was the band that Jon Anderson always thought that The Beatles secretly wanted to become. Of all the Spinal Tap-like cliches attributed to prog-rock bands, in general, in fact, most of them belong to Yes.

But the ambition was based on incredible musical ability from the very beginning. After a series of false starts, Yes found its audience with a series of musically adventurous albums in the 70s. How adventurous? Apparently, the bill to buy Rick Wakeman his keyboards nearly bankrupted the group.

Songs and albums kept getting longer, and for a while, the audiences kept getting larger. The cult-like obedience of fans was less dependable by the end of the 80s.

But, as was the fate of many a great prog-rock group, by the 80s, with several lineup changes under its belt, Yes emerged as a pop sensation. Reunions, feuds, and a return to making “classic prog-rock” were all relatively successful. It leaves Yes as a hard act to follow for anyone wanting to make double albums about fantasy lands using plenty of keyboards and complex guitar solos.

I remember that I was expecting some kind of revelation as I first played “The Yes Album,” a used vinyl I bought from the store using my allowance. I was still just a kid, and I lay on the bed staring at the ceiling waiting for some kind of magic to happen. And, I didn’t need to wait long before it did. 

For me, and many others I suspect, Yes wasn’t just that primo cut of complexly orchestrated prog-rock. It was a bizarre ritual that seemed to have beamed down by some alien force. I discovered the rest of the band’s discography based on this assumption. And I remain firm in my belief that this is the way to start judging them before you start considering the band’s collective musical abilities. 

3. Genesis

The musicians of Genesis were always fated to make prog-rock. They were classmates from a fancy boarding school, they were highly intelligent, they dressed funny, and they were English.

Managing somehow to put all of those elements together and led by the ever-ambitious theatrics of Peter Gabriel, Genesis became an important live draw in the early 1970s. Concept albums and their stage presentation became something of a gold standard for the genre. The musicianship and storytelling of albums like “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” are serious and successful artistic statements.

Gabriel’s departure was an excuse to disguise the prog-rock elements. It was just in time. This was the 80s, and nobody got more picked on than “progressive” musicians. With Phil Collins singing, Genesis enjoyed great pop success. Yet, if you listen closely and can count uneven time signatures, you’ll still find traces of ye ole prog-rock.

It took me a while to get Genesis, or frankly, to even consider it. This is not music, in my opinion, that can make a strong impression on you as a kid, even if so many of Peter Gabriel’s songs are influenced by fairy tales. In fact, the closest I came to liking prog-rock Genesis was having an appreciation of songs like “Home by the Sea,” sung by Phil Collins during the group’s heady stadium touring days. 

Finally, it was everything about “The Musical Box” that simply wooed me. The song structure, the intensity of the playing and Gabriel’s theatrics made it feel like Genesis had approached a world of creativity not touched by anyone else. Once in a while, “The Musical Box” will still be the only piece of music that I play for days on end. 

4. Rush

Now, Rush’s music, I think, can be understood and critiqued in the same way that one tries to understand the works of Russian classical composers. Appreciating it, however, I found, is another matter. There are those who simply fall in love with the sound of the band, and some for whom Geddy Lee’s nasally tone is a little too much. I fall in the latter category. 

Yet, reviewing every single Rush album., I confess, has been a joy. I found a band whose courage and innovation are what make you want to keep tuning it. 

The best prog-rock bands keep fans invested and investing over many decades. This is what Rush did for its fans, musical fanatics who, more often than not, own every single album in the band’s lengthy discography.

Rush could’ve been the Canadian Led Zeppelin if Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson had their way. But by the time Ayn Rand-loving drummer and songwriter Neil Peart joined the band, the desire was to find unparalleled excellence.

The trio did just that. Largely ignored by the critics and often savaged for their fashion sense, Rush made one classic after another during the 1970s. In an era dominated by prog-rock bands, few were more consistent and hard-working than this trio.

By the early 80s, Rush parlayed this success into radio hits and even toyed with synths and pop elements on a number of albums. They called it quits for nearly a decade before returning to monumental fan support in the 2000s. The sad passing of Neil Peart put an end to the group. But what was left behind was the kind of enormous musically progressive statement at which Rand herself would’ve blushed.

5. Dream Theater

I was obsessed with Dream Theatre as a child, and, especially with the premise that they were a kind of “Metallica meets Pink Floyd.” This was the way that my guitar teacher pitched them to me. Dream Theater was still at its peak. And their arrival for a local concert, I remember, was treated as a vital event for the rock and guitar scenes. 

I admire the band’s collective ability and work ethic. I, too, have tried to practice John Petrucci’s exercise in a bid to build up my chops. But I prefer to focus on the “Dream” part of the band’s mission. Those early records and gentle illusions with which they’re working, I still find to be wonderful. 

Later, I found it harder to connect. I remember spending a whole Summer with the “Octavarium” cd in my travel bag, deciphering the information and trying to convince myself that I enjoyed it. 

Dream Theater was an elite kill squad of prog-rock musicians on a suicide mission. What made the chances of survival as a group so slim? By the late 80s, when Dream Theater was formed by Berklee College students, progressive rock was no longer very successful. Not even rock fans wanted to hear it, and 80s rock fans wouldn’t have tolerated anything.

However, progressive metal bands, a separate but connected strand, had shown there was potential for an audience. This was, of course, provided you could play heavy, fast, and tell a story. Queensryche and Fate’s Warning had done this very well.

Incredibly musically proficient and able to spin a yarn through song, Dream Theater became a surprise hit with the album “Images and Words.” By the 2000s, the band was practically a genre unto itself. They’ve maintained a highly loyal following to this day. And, yes, no drum, keyboard, or guitar solo has ever been long enough for the Boston band.

6. Jethro Tull

My first memory of Jethro Tull is that of wiping clean two cassettes containing their music. One was an early release and the other was from the 1980s and I didn’t quite care for any of them. Besides, back in Romania, we had at least one prominent group copying its sound from Tull and, in my estimation at the time, doing it better. 

It was only in my teens when my cousins played me his favourite Tull songs that penny dropped. I then heard a band that was clever, competent and who wrote enormously angry songs. These are well-educated British musicians who share the same anger as Johnny Rotten, if you ask me. 

Jethro Tull didn’t start out as a progressive rock band. But then again, few of the classics did. Nah, Ian Anderson wanted a blues-rock band just like the others who were making a bit of dough in England in the late 1960s.

An interest in classical music, the fact that the musicians looked kinda funny on stage, and a nice sense of humor pushed Jethro Tull in the arms of progressive music.

Serious musicians, as they now were, Tull’s members created the muscular “Aqualung,” or the faux-concept album “Thick as a Brick.” By the late 1970s, millions had bought the band’s albums, and most confessed to not knowing what this Jethro Tull character making all this racket looked like.

The truly classic releases somewhat dried up by the end of the 1970s. But Anderson guided forward, prog-rock flag in hand. Jethro Tull continues to play to a cult following all over the world.

7. Queen

Queen wasn’t a prog-rock band for long. Their ambitions, I think, lay far beyond that. Yet, as a lifelong fan, I can also say that the prog roots never quite left them. 

For one thing, I find that the prog leanings suited them. Freddie Mercury was particularly intrigued with myths and archaic musical forms. Brian May, as well, was no stranger to proto-metal song form on a song like “The Prophet Song.”

Beyond anything, I get a great joy from listening to Queen’s early prog-rock albums. They’re the few in the band’s discography that feel like they haven’t been played to death. They’re the few who still retain some secrets. And, “Queen II,” especially, is, in my books, a downright perfect prog album. 

Most progressive rock bands became pop-rock bands in the 1980s once the bill started piling up. Queen’s quartet, on the other hand, saw the writing on the wall early.

Sure, most people associate Queen with similar pop hits played on the stage of Wembley Stadium. However, during the 1970s, few groups were as clever or wrote compositions that were as rich and complex as Queen. To not be included on the list of the greatest progressive rock bands would be a crime on par with letting Paul Rodgers sing “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

If anything, the sophomore release, “Queen II,” was the band’s shining musical moment. Heavy-sounding, ambitious and inspired by ancient myths and dubious fashion choices, “Queen II” hints at a future where Dungeons and Dragons players and heavy metal fans can live as one.

Commercially, Queen’s progressive era reached its zenith with “A Night at the Opera,” an album inspired by dead or dying musical forms. By the 1980s, there were fewer than 10-minute songs in live playlists. But the progressive gospel was recorded for all to hear. Freddie Mercury was prog fan from London before was a rock god.

8. King Crimson

It felt like you were being given access to some kind of occult knowledge. And, in many ways, you were. That’s what my introduction to King Crimson’s first album was like. 

It was also a mighty clever ploy. The first two King Crimson albums, I found, were a lovely, gentle introduction into the Fripp Kingdom. Those were fairytale, folk and metal-inspired songs. They didn’t quite prepare me, though, for the aggressiveness of albums like “Red” or the band’s new-wave-inspired ‘80s albums. 

King Crimson is the essential prog-rock unit, monks of musical complexity and people widely believed to have never smiled. But if anything, King Crimson created a market. Their debut album, “In the Court of the Crimson King,” was a monster hit. It created a demand for complex musicianship and intricate storytelling. And essentially, it broke up the initial version of the group.

Led by guitarist Robert Fripp, King Crimson continued to challenge rock fans during the 1970s. The ever more intricate and abstract material nearly always demanded that the musician sit down while playing. Fans bothered little ith this detail.

By the 2000s, when they were ready to call it a day, King Crimson had the following of a religious cult, some of its band members had formed other successful groups (like Emerson, Lake and Palmer or Asia), and the early 1970s records were held in the highest esteem.

There’s a ladder that prog-rock fans have to climb. King Crimson is most surely up at the very top, in between “really demanding” and “I give up.”

9. TOOL

My first impression of TOOL is thinking that this was a marvellously enjoyable sound. Hearing songs like “Sober” and “Prison Sex,” and watching the claymation videos, felt like someone had put their finger on ideas that many bands were circling around but couldn’t land on. 

But, then, TOOL became for obsessives. I could never find enough in the band’s records to make me turn into one of the numerous detail oriented TOOL manics. 

Frankly, it’s Keenan’s singing that, still, appeals to me much more than the complex song structures, or lyrics that, supposedly, echo connects of occult philosophy. 

An essential part of being part of a successful prog-rock band is a mistrust of your over-enthusiastic fan base. TOOL’s singer, Maynard James Keenan, has often complained about this. But how could it have been any different?

TOOL’s second and third albums, “Aenima” and “Lateralus,” made progressive rock fanatics of alt-rock and grunge kids. TOOL’ s music was mysterious, well-played, heavy and highly intricate.

The fanaticism kept TOOL in business. And, even though the group’s only been able to reconvene to make another two albums since then, its influence is colossal. Walk into any practice space and you’ll hear kids trying to master the otherworldly mood of TOOL’s music and the complex sound signatures.

10. Opeth

Where I’m from, all things Nordic are treated with colossal reverence. Sadly, this extends to rock music. While I love Northern Europe more than any other place on Earth, I have not been tricked into thinking that much good music has come from this place. On the contrary. 

Opeth is an exception. And I was impressed by the band, especially, because the groups been able to blend its interest in Anglo-American prog-rock with its native metal-centric obsessions. I admire all the work they’re put into this over the years. 

Scandinavians and people recovering from broken limbs spend the most amount of time indoors. The former often uses this time to create unwelcoming art that displays their virtuosity.

By the early 90s, the Northerners were fighting each other in wars of heavy metal. Opeth was among the competitors in the category of “World’s Most Evil Bands.” But growling and blast beats alone can only get you so far.

Mikael Åkerfeldt’s leadership took the band to a more complex territory, peaking in the early 2000s with albums like “Blackwater Park.” From then onward, Opeth was placed at the vanguard of a new kind of progressive rock. This version revelled in darkness and operated as comfortably with death metal elements as it did with classic rock ones.

Typical of Swedes, Opeth’s musicians remained hard-working and consistent. They released many other well-acclaimed albums, built a global fanbase and created their own brand of prog-rock. All of this means that to not include them would be to ignore all the work done by all of those young men and women stuck in their Swedish garages for 6-8 months of the year.

Top 11 – 20

11. Emerson, Lake and Palmer

Nowadays, they’d probably just call it a celebrity jam session. However, when Emerson, Lake and Palmer were created in 1970, blending the creative energies of three of the best-known progressive rock musicians of the day, the music press went wild.

And, even though supergroups have always had a tendency to misfire, I’d ask you to reconsider on this occasion. Early Emerson, Lake and Palmer releases included classics like “Brain Salad Surgery.” Whether galloping through extensive individual solos or singing folk-rock ditties such as “Lucky Man,” this is one of the most respected prog-rock groups.

12. Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel had acquired quite a reputation by the time that he abruptly decided to leave Genesis. So well were his music and stage costumes known that the ever-creative Gabriel opted for an entirely new musical direction. Those daring early experiments changed what prog-rock could. And, by the 1980s, Gabriel’s sounds had essentially created the modern language of MTV-approved pop.

13. Can

Early progressive rock was, more than anything, an attempt to test the boundaries of pop music. Dazzling playing was welcome, but audacious creativity was the thing most praised. Of the early prog bands, none were gutsier, smarter, or more willing to confuse audiences than Germany’s Can.

The group created, in my opinion, a number of stone-cold classics during the 1970s. And while I can understand the reasons why Can never quite become a household name, this should be no reason for you to pass on the group’s fantastically sophisticated freakouts.

14. The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta was less of a band, initially, than it was a dare. The group rose out of the ashes of the rambunctious stage-destroying unit At the Drive-in.

Like their previous post-hardcore band, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez worked to sow mystery into their music. Unlike their earlier music, however, The Mars Volta’s music was a complex mix of psychedelia, Latin-rock and jazz textures. It’s hard to argue against the group’s first two records, “Deloused in the Comatorium” and “Frances the Mute”, which are modern classics.

15. Gentle Giant

Gentle Giant took the idea about prog-rock being meant to be boundary-pushing to heart. Few groups of the early 1970s made music that was more challenging while appealing to rock crowds.

And while the complex vocal orchestrations or the touches of Medieval music were a barrier too high for some, Gentle Giant did acquire a fanbase that still praises the group’s albums.

16. Van der Graaf Generator

I learned about Van der Graaf Generator from a friend’s father at school. I was excited when he lent me some albums. And, I admit, that the music, initially, went entirely over my head.

A prog-rock band for musicians primarily, Van der Graaf Generator were interested in sonic complexity and in bringing a stroke panache to concept album storytelling. But this is also one of the biggest cult groups of all time. And, finally, I can understand that this is for good reason.

17. Porcupine Tree

Porcupine Tree sought to be their generation’s gateway into the fantastic world of 1970s prog. In many ways, this Steven Wilson-fronted trio achieved just this.

The band’s earliest releases turned alt-rock and grunge kids into prog-rock collectors. And with so many releases to their name, Porcupine Tree have managed to keep those fans interested through the years.

18. Supertramp

I think that if you want to win an argument about music of previous decades getting successful solely on artistic merit, you ought to bring up Supertramp. The group secured a loyal global following with its gentle, Pink Floyd-inspired records, before really hitting the big time with “Breakfast in America.” Few gimmicks or fancy haircuts were ever involved. Listen back now, and I doubt that you’ll find many better progressive-rock bands.

19. Queensryche

I can hardly believe that there was a time when every single major musical genre hadn’t been blended together. Still, back when prog-metal was merely a dream in some over-excited teenagers’ brain, Queensryche saw an opening.

It wasn’t just a gimmick either. The American group married metal’s technical sophistication with Pink Floyd-like themes of detachment and ELP-like dynamics. Albums like “Operation: Mindcrime” and “Empire” are still some of the most enjoyable listens in the whole progressive-metal genre.

20. Marillion

I can understand the reasons for starting a teenage band that apes your heroes. Marillion did as well. The band’s earliest records were designed to mimic Peter Gabriel-era Genesis. But put that aside for a moment and you’ll find wonderful music. Are you done hearing “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway?” Continue here!

Even more amazing was the fact that, after losing Fish, the band’s charismatic singer, Marillion moved on, evolved and secured the loyalty of a pop-friendly prog area of the public. The group thoroughly deserves recognition and a place on this list.

Top 21 – 30

21. Magma

Progressive rock bands tend to be either loved or hated by the general public. None is, however, quite as divisive as French experimentalists Magma.

The band’s compositions didn’t begin on guitar or piano. No, they were led by drumming virtuoso Christian Vander. The great muso created a mythology for Magma, a secret language (Kobaïan), and a significant body of work.

Magma was always fated to be a cult act rather than a platinum-selling group. But what’s more prog than that?

22. Procol Harum

There aren’t many bands that get to have a generational hit and are also an art-rock institution on the side. However, with both the gorgeous “A Whiter Shade of Pale” and a discography spanning five decades, that’s what Procol Harum has achieved.

Known for musical proficiency, a love of poetry, and for being one of the first rock groups to incorporate an orchestra within the live setup, Procol Harum is one of prog-rock’s greatest bands.

23. King’s X

Most bands on this list never sought to gain commercial acceptance. For some, it happened, and it was a shock. For King’s X, things never worked out this way, which has, in fact, been the surprise.

That’s because King’s X were well-positioned to be Rush for the 90’s alt-rock scene. A power trio capable of great playing and able to summon proper grit into its compositions, King’s X, finally, deserves this recognition. This is one of the greatest prog-rock bands.

24. Soft Machine

You can’t do that now, I’m pretty sure! The mid 1960s in Britain were wild, experimental times. And the characters who got on stage to play music are nothing like the industry-approved musicians of today.

Like Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd, Soft Machine were led by young men desperate to test the limits of rock n’ roll. Soft Machine’s musicians were better read than most, more adventurous, and, for the most part, harder to understand. Soft Machine’s musicians are art-rock heroes!

25. Hawkwind

It’s a long and strange trip that Hawkwind has been on. And, yes, to be fair, on occasion, it’s the stories about the band members that have been even more remarkable than the music.

However, this space rock outfit deserves a mention on our list for the sheer enthusiasm with which Dave Brock and his crew of Sci-Fi nerds turned rock stars have approached the band’s music.

Read more:

• Hawkwind: Psychedelic-rock pioneers or acid victims?

26. Gong

When most groups of the 1960s were still playing three-minute pop and blues songs about cars and girls, Gong got rid of all those conventions. Formed by Daevid Allen, former guitarist for Soft Machine, Gong pioneered lengthy on-stage improvisations, absurdist humour, and writing songs about aliens.

Gong was also a launching pad for the careers of several musical luminaries, including Steve Hillage and Allan Holdsworth. Never becoming a platinum-selling band, Gong is, regardless, one of space-rock’s greatest institutions.

27. Transatlantic

Ever watch one of those soccer games where the world’s best players, albeit slightly past their youth, play a match? That’s what Transatlantic is to progressive rock.

The group, first, earned notoriety by including Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy along with former members of Spock’s Beard, Flower Kings and Marillion.

However, it’s been the critical reception of their few studio albums, and, especially, interest in their live shows that makes Transatlantic one of the best bands to adopt the progressive-rock banner.

28. Wishbone Ash

Throughout the 1970s, Wishbone Ash was one of the best and most driving guitar-driven bands. It’s sound prioritised hard-rock guitar riffs, the work of Andy Powell. However, the British group was always more forward-thinking than its contemporaries, embracing similar principles.

Perhaps it is this that has, strangely, decreased the band’s fame since its Golden Era. However, there’s no doubt in my mind that Wishbone Ash is one of the top hard-rocking progressive bands!

29. Styx

Yes, yes, I know. You’re humming “Mr Roboto” right now and asking if I’ve lost my mind.

And while I don’t make a habit of defending Styx, this time I feel I have to. Like Kansas, Styx was an American band obsessed with British progressive rock. They built their version of it. Their music was theatrical, ambitious, and well-played. And, when it started to get good, Styx became a soft rock band. The end!

30. Be Bob Deluxe

Be Bob Deluxe is another band that chose sophistication over commercial palatability. And it’s a few, but dedicated fans of their 1970s output are happy things worked out this way.

Guitarist Bill Nelson, on the other hand, made a difficult decision in this regard. Albums like “Sunburnt Finish” and “Axe Victim” are great representations of his talent.

Nearly pop in its sonic palette, but a little too clever for mass appeal, Be Bob Deluxe are prog-rock heroes you may not have considered for this position in a long time, but for which you might need to make a change.

Top 31 – 40

31. Return to Forever

Return to Forever, I think, was the point at which jazz-fusion and progressive-rock finally, and inevitably, met. The group launched the career of musical luminary Chick Corea, and has included the likes of Al Di Meola.

Appreciating them involves serious focus. They’re one of the groups that my guitar teacher advised I hear. I did and, frankly, it took me several years before I could learn to appreciate them. 

32. Aprodite’s Child

Aphrodite’s Child was a band formed in the wrong place for commercial success, Greece, and ahead of its time. While the group transformed into something of a sleeper hit, it’s, unfairly, best remembered for including the talents of Vangelis and Demis Roussos, who I suppose might be the famous Greek musicians of the last century.

I love the fact that Aphrodite’s Child remains a wonderful surprise every time I hear it. I love the fact that this is not an Anglo-American band, but one blending those influences with its own roots. And, more than anything, I love that for a few recordings, they stand side by side with any of the great prog-rock bands.

33. U.K.

Has there ever been a band with a less-memorable name, or , indeed, a less-commercial sound? UK Is a late 1970s prog supergroup that’s had a surprisingly large impact. Essentially, a vehicle for guitar wiz Allan Holdsworth to get to play with some of Britain’s finest prog players, I find the U.K. challenging and rewarding. It is, I’ve heard, the one band that Eddie van Halen would’ve liked to play in besides his own. 

34. Spock’s Beard

Judging by the name, you’d be correct to assume that Spock’s Beard represent the period in which prog-rock groups were deciding that taking themselves a little too seriously might be a mistake. This was a time of prog-revival, and this American group’s ‘90s and early 2000s albums have proven influential. I find that the vocal harmonies are best appreciated while sitting underneath warm water. 

35. Focus

I remember that it was a kind of ritual that at around 6.50 a.m. the local rock radio station would play the immortal “Hocus Pocus.” I’d wake up to hear it. By the time that the main guitar riff hit, I was already in a kind of frenzy. This was perfect music that I couldn’t quite explain, but never failed to make me feel excited. 

36. Utopia

Utopia is primarily known as a vehicle for singer, songwriter and all-around well-dressed man, Todd Rundgren. But, this is somewhat unfair, I think, as is the fact that rock history’s somewhat abandoned them. Sure, Rundgren was one of the most talented musicians of 1970s rock. However, Utopia was a strong quartet with a distinct voice and, likely, a new musical discovery that you ought to make. 

37. Camel

Camel’s enduring success, I think, is a testament to the consistency of taste of bona fide prog-rock fans. Formed in the 1970s and never achieving mass appeal, nonetheless, Camel’s retained a loyal following throughout its decades of activity.

I recently spent a month in the Welsh countryside. Granted, this isn’t Canterbury and not even Surrey. But it felt close enough that listening to Camel seemed appropriate. And, indeed, the green fields on which cows mooed in the morning and wolves howled at night made those recordings come alive like never before. 

38. Mastodon

Mastodon was one of the biggest prog-metal bands of the 2000s. Releasing a string of concept albums, the American group became a highly well-rated musical and touring entity, earning comparisons to groups like Genesis or Dream Theater.

Sometimes, you have to rejoice at other music listeners’ enthusiasm. When Mastodon became a global obsession for prog and metal fans, I was excited for their excitement. While I never quite got into the whole concept of their records, I was among those headbanging along. 

39. Steven Wilson (solo)

Steven Wilson went solo after years of working to make Porcupine Tree into a rock institution. Even more interestingly, I found that Wilson’s solo records, much like 1980s Pink Floyd or Genesis, straddle the line between pop and prog.

It took me a while to appreciate Steven Wilson. Frankly, his band and solo work were usually the obsession of the kind of music fans that I knew and avoided. I only let my guard down when I discovered the remastered and reimagined series of prog-rock albums he worked on. A man with so much good taste can’t be all bad. 

40. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band was the group that Mann formed in 1972 once he’d had his fill of the pop and R&B hits that had made him rich and quasi-famous during the 1960s. Their self-titled debut, I think, is a prog-rock record that all should hear. 

I’m not sure if I’m one of the many people who would’ve loved to have grown up in the 1960s. Perhaps the early ‘70s would’ve been preferable. Can you imagine your favourite pop acts going prog? I can assume that hearing bespectacled studio wiz Manfred Mann’s far-out musical excursions with the Earth Band must’ve been mind-shattering. 

Top 41 – 50

41. Uriah Heep

’ve a real soft spot for Uriah Heep? It’s partly because they sound like the members of Led Zeppelin playing Dungeons & Dragons and trying to scare themselves with lyrics about wizards and witches. And it’s partly because they capture that classic rock sound very well. 

But are they prog? I think so. Uriah Heep’s “Golden Era” experimented with long-form song types like “July Morning,” lofty themes and that old whiff of fantasy and mystery that fit so well in prog-rock. Do you get extended guitar solos from Mick Box, as well? You betcha!

42. Mike Oldfield

I think that Mike Oldfield has done more for high-minded prog-rock and new-age music than nearly anyone. Add to that some bona fide pop hits like “To France” and “Shadow’s on the Wall” and you got quite the storied career. (Damn, I love those acoustic guitars across “To France,” and romantic Scottish tale).

More than anything, if you ask me, Oldfield’s records always sound crisp, resonant, detailed. And if that’s not enough to have him on that list, I think that the incomparable success of the mostly instrumental prog opera “Tubular Bells” ought to seal it. 

43. Caravan

On a recent trip to England & Wales, Caravan became the unofficial soundtrack for weeks. It felt only fitting. After all, they’re the most famous of a series of groups dubbed collectively as “The Canterbury Scene.” 

The group’s most famous work, “In the Land of Grey and Pink,” utilises extended compositions that draw from classical and jazz. The group’s songs have enough pop tricks to keep listeners engaged. All of that’s true. However, for me, it’s just how well Caravan manage to translate their Englishness and unique quirks to the music which makes them an essential listen, if you ask me, and one of the most important progressive-rock groups of all time. 

44. Therion

Therion was the kind of music that I listened to , as a teenager, with the room shut and the lights turned off. This Scandi band pioneered the idea of orchestral-driven prog-metal. The group incorporated mythological themes and some good, old-fashioned “evil metal band” marketing. 

This all means that the band can still play “Theli” to a stadium of excited Swedes back home while backed by a full orchestra. That’s pretty prog-rock, I you ask me. 

45. The Flower Kings

I know that there are bands who show no interest in what’s happening in the charts and what’s trendy in contemporary rock-loving circles. I salute them! The Flower Kings is a band that started in the 1990s with the explicit purpose of embracing all that was good and over-the-top about classic-era prog.

This means that the Swedes like to write long songs connected by instrumental parts, focus on retro gear like the Moog and the Rickenbacker bass guitars, and use their vocal harmonies to chant songs that feel plucked from Tolkien-esque fantasy novels. What’s not to like?

46. Electric Light Orchestra

I know love ELO, but this wasn’t always the case. Initially, I was put off by the general kitschiness of the band’s music and image. I was wrong, however, to ignore the fantastic arrangements, incredible singing, and Beatlesque tendencies.

John Lennon said that ELO was the band that the Beatles were going to become, and I can certainly hear that in songs like “Showdown” or the legendary “Mr Blue Sky.” 

47. Asia

Was Asia a prog band? Sure, in as much as Genesis and Pink Floyd were prog bands when they were scoring Billboard chart hits in the 1980s. 

The only difference is that Asia reverse-engineered its success. The group was formed by members of already famous prog rock bands. They became top-sellers by writing direct, catchy, short songs that cracked the U.S. charts. 

The band’s pop songs, however, include enough musical complexity and fancy melodic tricks to help them qualify for this list. 

48. Kansas

Kansas was out to be the U.S.A.’s response to Peter Gabriel-era Genesis. And, for our purposes, that’s the period in the band’s history that I like to focus on. 

Early Kansas compositions were ambitious,  over-the-top and, yes, occasionally clunky. But they’ve a real naive beauty to them, I think.

Later on, the group would score a number of hits with pop-rock gems like “Carry on My Wayward Son,” but it’s the pure prog era that you need to concern yourself with.

49. Gojira

I know, and so do you, that prog-rock bands have never found it easy to achieve mainstream success. This is all the more true in the modern era. Gojira, to my amazement, has gathered legions of fans across the globe while writing songs with deep ecological themes, adding polyrhythms and, most difficult of all to overcome, being French. Gojira is a fascinating prog-metal band. 

50. Devin Townsend

Devin Townsend might just be one of the most skilled rock musicians in the world. He’s got one of the craziest vocal ranges imaginable. He’s capable of writing heavy, complex, guitar-driven songs.

And he’s earned his reputation as a member of Steve Vai’s band, as a solo artist and as the architect of the quasi-legendary Strapping Young Lad. Townsend, a modern, metal-appreciative Zappa, is the definition of a prog cult rock hero. 

Top 51 – 60

51. Fates Warning

Fates Warning may have, depending on who you ask, invited progressive metal. That’s a pretty big deal, huh? That’s enough to get you on this lis? I do think so!

Style-wise and in terms of playing, Fates Warning was absolutely revolutionary. Here was a band with the ability to cover Rush or Yes, and with the vision to blend with the sounds of early 80s heavy metal. 

Albums like “Awaken the Guardian” and “No Exit” are classics of the genre. 

So, why not higher on the list? Personally, I’ve always respected Fates Warning more than I’ve actually found them entertaining. This seems a fair spot for them.

52. Between the Buried and Me

Between the Buried and Me rarely got a poor review in the 2000s. In fact, fans and critics love them. 

They are part of a new breed of progressive-metal musicians. These hadn’t necessarily learned their skills in music school or playing in clubs. Instead, they’d had an endless amount of online information, a better generation of gear and audiences excited for this kind of music. 

Between the Buried and Me make intelligent, literate prog-metal, one that emphasises strong playing, modern tones, and more often than not, full concepts. 

53. Meshuggah

Meshuggah is one of the biggest metal bands of recent decades. But are they owed a spot on this list? I think so!

Again, this is a band that I admire more than I enjoy. It took me a good deal of time to understand the sheer complexity of the band’s sound built around complex, challenging-to-play (and for me, even to count) rhythms. 

Sure, there are elements of thrash and nu-metal, but the band’s general direction, to my ears, has always floated toward prog. This, and the band’s influence and appeal, I think, warrant their inclusion on this list. 

54. Karnivool

Prog-rock bands nearly always have great potential to turn into cult bands. When they do their job properly, they almost always attract a good deal of fervent supporters. When Karnivool released their 2026 album, “In Verses,” a certain section of the music world went absolutely wild. 

Still, this success has its foundation in decades-long work. It was built on the ability to incorporate numerous rock styles and plenty of exotic instrumentation. 

Ask some of those devoted fans, and they’ll point toward albums like “Themata” and “Sound Awake” as some of the best prog-metal records made in the 2000s. 

55. The Pretty Things

If you ask me, The Pretty Things may just be one of the most underrated bands of all time. It’s not really their fault either. From Bob Dylan to Noel Gallagher, everyone’s talked glowingly about them. 

No, their entire career has not been dedicated to prog ideas. In fact, they were just one of the many British Invasion bands. But the group embraced its experimental tendencies later on with the epochal “S.F. Sorrow.” Sure, as time went on, the group’s need for survival made them employ trendier sounds. But, I’d like to think that a big part of prog-rock history would be missing without The Pretty Things.  

56. Baroness

Every once in a while, music critics get together in secret and choose one or two bands that they agree to all champion. I wasn’t around for that meeting. But I trust that this is what happened with Baroness, a prog-minded metal band who in the late 2000s could do nothing to earn themselves a bad review. 

It was 2009’s “Blue Record” and 2019’s comeback, “Gold & Grey,” that earned the band a spot on many Best of the Year lists. Proudly, they’re one of the heavy rock groups keeping interest alive in progressive rock music. 

57. Premiata Forneria Marconi

If you have friends who are all well-versed in prog-rock lore, they won’t be impressed when you tell them about your love of Yes or Gentle Giant. No, they’ll aggressively, arrogantly whisper back: “I like Premiata Forneria Marconi!”

One of the biggest prog-rock bands to come out of continental Europe, PFM rose concomitantly with that of groups like ELP. They made a couple of English re-recordings, but serious fans agree that it’s the group’s early, Italian-sung albums, like “Storia di un Minuto”, that make them one of the most important prog bands of the early 1970s. 

58. Tangerine Dream

I obsessively listen to Tangerine Dream. And I do it for only one purpose, namely to work. The sounds of “Phaedra” have accompanied me across thousands of hours of it. 

But that’s not what most people listened to the German band for back in the 1970s. Their colossal, global success was just as much due to the visionary music as to the psychedelia and stimulant-loving audience that championed it. 

The band’s made countless albums, many of them very good. The band’s seen a lot of success working on soundtracks. And, even though the band’s creative leader Edgar Froese is no longer with us, the group soldiers on, developing that particular, abstract electro-prog sound of Tangerine Dream. 

59. Enslaved

The press absolutely loved Nordic rock bands in the early 1990s,  but generally not for the right reasons. While Enslaved were part of the burgeoning black metal sound, this group wanted more than notoriety. 

In fact, the group has been responsible for quietly constructing some of the most respectable bodies of work of any loud, thundering prog-metal band. In fact, some might even say that it was the band’s 2000s run of records that should help the band’s inclusion on this list. 

60. The Alan Parsons Project

Is there a nicer-sounding recorded group than The Alan Parsons Project? I don’t think so! I also don’t think that the group’s ever been very cool, which might account for its dip in popularity. 

But it’s the sound we ought to focus on. The quality of it is a direct result of Parsons’ engineering work on albums like “Dark Side of the Moon.” 

Together with Eric Woolfson, The Alan Parsons Project found that hard-to-find middle ground between lofty prog rock ideals and pop hits. “Eye in the Sky” is the prog album that your grandma might enjoy. “Don’t Answer Me” is a supreme piece of pop recording and production. 

Top 61 – 70

61. Nektar

62. The Pineapple Thief

63. The Moody Blues

64. Animals As Leaders

65. Crack the Sky

66. Symphony X

67. Coheed and Cambria

68. Haken

69. Periphery

70. Sky

Top 71 – 80

71. Dragon

72. Omega

73. Renaissance

74. Leprous

75. Riverside

76. Katatonia

77. TesseracT

78. VOLA

79. Pavlov’s Dog

80. Caligula’s Horse

Top 81 – 90

81. Obscura

82. The Contortionist

83. Curved Air

84. Ayreon

85.Strawbs

86. Liquid Tension Experiment

87. The Ocean

88. Barclay James Harvest

89. Arena

90. Fish

Top 91 – 100

91. Family

92. Klaatu

93. IQ

94. Textures

95. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe

96. Delivery

97. Wheel

98. Seventh Wonder

99. Greenslade

100. Audience