In the 70’s, various bands were referred to as “progressive rock” or “art rock”, including Yes, early Genesis, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, etc.
Which bands of today are continuing in this tradition?
I’d say Queensryche and Dream Theatre would be up there, even though both tend to be more like “progressive metal.” Dream Theatre is pretty amazing, though, and I’m hardly what you’d call a metal fan. I’d include Rush in any discussion of prog rock as well.
Primus, along with Les Claypool’s other projects, is without a doubt progressive rock. And there are tons of metal bands carrying on in the progressive tradition, among whom I particularly like Opeth, King Diamond, Neurosis, Therion, Voivod, Tool, and Meshuggah. If you want music in that vein, you should look to metal these days, not rock.
One newish band that some people consider prog is Mars Volta. I’ve also heard some people say that Tool and Primus are new prog. Or rather next generation prog. I don’t know tho, just a couple off the top of my head.
jw
Porcupine Tree, tho IMNSHO they aren’t really “prog”, but people call them that
anyway, just for the sake of pigeonholing them if nothing else…
“Coheed and Cambria” fit the bill nicely.
Coheed and Cambria’s recent output certainly qualifies.
Queensryche and Dream Theatre, certainly, but that’s already a generation behind in music.
Well, there is Dream Theater that has already been meantioned. From DT there are a bunch of off-shoot bands that would qualify. There is Liquid Tension Experiment that has Tony Levin. John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess. It’s instrumental and quite insane. Three of those guys are in DT. Jordan Rudess is fairly new to DT I believe. There is OSI which has Jim Matheos from Fates Warning, Sean Malone and Mike Portnoy (DT). Then John Myung has Platypus with Derek Sherinain (keyboards, in a band called Planet X) and Rod Morgenstien (Steve Morse, Dixie Dregs). James LaBrie has a couple things going on. One is Mullmuzzler, another is Frame shift and he has a solo album. Jordan Rudess also has a bunch of solo stuff out.
Fates Warning (FWX is presently in heavy rotation at my house) is considered progressive.
Then there is Shadow Gallery. I just ordered one of their CDs 'cause I liked some of the samples I heard.
If you are looking for prog a decent place to check is Magna Carta records.
Slee
Although I unfortunately can’t provide band names, I suggest checking out Eastern European rock bands. They love the prog stuff in pockets over there… Estonia for example seems to be very fond of the 7 minute complex math rock track…
In my opinion, the best prog-rock band today is Armenian-based British group Schnauser. Their work, while not on the level of something like Yes (who could be?) carries the torch pretty well. They’re incredibly obscure, and the only way to listen to their music is to order their CD and have it shipped to you. But if you are into good music, I would highly reccommend doing so.
I think The Flaming Lips is a modern band on the poppier side of prog. They certainly produce concept albums full of long complex jams. Plus, I think I read in Entertainment a long while ago that the members are King Crimson fans.
There are plenty. Although as another poster mentioned, a lot of it is refered to as “progressive metal” now though. I don’t really know if there is a huge difference between progressive metal and progressive rock. I am a huge metalhead, and the two excellent examples are “Pain Of Salvation” and some of the works of “Amorphis”.
Ever hear the Rudess Morgenstein project? Good stuff IMO.
Not too far out on the spectrum, I’d say “System of a Down”.
I mean, they almost sound like a toned-down “Mr. Bungle” from 12 years ago, so it’s hard to call them too progressive but they push the rock envelope for stuff that gets played on the radio.
If you’re willing to count prog-influenced bands, then almost every metal band out there (save the pop-metal bands from 1984 on) counts to some degree or another. But that’s probably too loose a definition.
Magna Carta records is a good place to start. You might also look at Inside Out and SPV/Steamhammer.
There is a difference–think of Spock’s Beard vs. Spiral Architect, for instance. It’s not a well-defined boundary, though, and there are many bands (e.g., Dream Theater and Shadow Gallery) who comfortably straddle the line.
Tool and Perfect Circle are highly influenced by King Crimson. Radiohead are often reffered to as prog or proglike in Q magazine.
And King Crimson are still going strongly.
I think Wilco came close on ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’. And of course, Rush is still tooling right along…
Another vote for Coheed and Cambria. I heard them on a warped tour cd a few years ago and loved the lyrics, so I got a copy of some of there stuff and love it.
Super Furry Animals can get a bit prog at times.
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Actually, there are a fair number of progressive acts on The End records’ distribution list.