Unlike the Arena Rock thread, I had trouble deciding here. Thank you, Lobot, especially for the reminder of Van Der Graaf Generator. And the non-English-speaking bands, which I intend to look into.
I’m not really much of a prog rock guy, but my ranking would be:
- King Crimson
- Genesis (through about Abacab)
- Yes
- Rush
- Emerson, Lake, & Palmer
- Kansas
Actually, I probably should have voted Genesis. I like them more than King Crimson, but I think King Crimson slightly edge out Genesis in quality. It’s a tough choice, though.
He didn’t like to be called that, but seconded.
Finally went with Genesis, since the albums they produced with Peter Gabriel are without equal in the prog universe (and I totally dig their more pop-leaning stuff with Phil Collins, too), but it was a tough choice among them, King Crimson, and Geddy and the boys.
Harmonium is another band that deserves a mention here. In three albums, you have the entire history of Prog Rock, from 3 person folk-based music (Harmonium) to 6 person extended writing (Si on avait besoin d’une cinquième saison) to full orchestral double album (L’heptade). Serge Fiori, the driving force behind Harmonium, is a genius, and it’s a crime that his music is all but unknown outside of Québec.
Dragging further into the 70s, Rennaisance was several kinds of wonderful.
Prog is my favorite style and I’m always happy to add another band, especially when I can’t understand the lyrics. Knowing what is going on can be the death of Prog bands. Therefore my love of Yes and appreciation of Rush. 
I don’t get why Kansas is on the list and Pink Floyd isn’t.
Floyd, anyway.
edit: (Heck, I would think of The Who or Dream Theater before Kansas, & I like Kansas well enough. I just don’t think of them as “prog” as such. Crap, now I have to go listen to some Kansas, see what I’m missing.)
:listens to Kansas:
I stand corrected. There was some really proggy prog there.
Still say Floyd, though.
For me personally, King Crimson, far and away. After them, Genesis and Yes are about tied, but I give the edge to Genesis (I’m ignoring their work post-Wind and Wuthering); then comes ELP. Rush is way down, and Kansas is way below them.
I would list a number of other bands above Rush and maybe above ELP, including Caravan, Gong, Van der Graaf Generator, and Soft Machine, but I guess those are less well known.
With regard to Floyd, Tull, etc.: Definitely prog, but I think the OP may have been going more for the subcategory of “art rock”. (Not sure I would include Rush and Kansas in that subcategory, but definitely the others.)
Well, to be fair, they don’t call themselves a progressive rock band. Geddy Lee said he just considers their music “hard rock”.
First off, I apologize for not including a lot of great bands in the poll. I never really considered Floyd progressive, but I can now see how others would.
I loved Tull, and they are freaky, but it seems they pulled more from traditional music and hard rock. **Thick as Brick **and **Passion Play **were obvious exceptons, but still. Again, they could be included and I probably should have added an ‘other’ option.
Saga didn’t really do that well in the States (and I am america-centric). I did see them open for Tull in Ohio. Musically, it was the best show I ever attended.
As for Rush…as I said at the top, they went through some different stages. But from Caress of Steel through Subdivisions, they were as progressive as anyone out there. After that…somethin’ else happened.
Of the options listed, I went with Genesis. I dismissed them for a long time because I had heard a little of their post ABACAB stuff on the radio and thought it was disposable. Then I was introduced to their early material and my opinion forever changed.
Yes was probably the most consistently good. King Crimson is too out there for my tastes sometimes, but when they’re good, they’re great. I’d rank both of them very slightly behind Genesis. I don’t tune away from the others when they’re on the radio, but they’re a good distance behind the Genesis, Yes, and King Crimson in my book.
The poll needed Jethro Tull (my favorite) and Pink Floyd.
Zappa. After him either Yes or King Crimson.
[fangirl squeal]I saw them open for Tull in Los Angeles! They were like, totally awesome!!![/fangirl squeal] What year did you see them?
Of all the bands listed Yes and Tull were actually stronger favorites for me, but both bands seemed to veer in and out prog depending on mood. So Crimson was my pick, for the nice stretch they had, and for some extent because they kicked it off with Court.
I have a hard time thinking of Floyd as consistently progressive, by the way…sure Ummagumma’s right in that territory, but they also had a lot of standard time signature and straightforward lyrics. {I feel a ‘what is prog’ argument coming and will duck away quietly}
I loved Genesis while Gabriel was still with them, but the only one of the choices I’ve bothered to go and see since the 70s is King Crimson…
Obviously (if you know their music) I’d vote for VdGG, but that’s not an option 
So, um, I vote for KIng Crimson.
And spooje, you’re in for a treat catching up with VdGG - assuming you don’t instantly hate them!
Yeah, they learned that they’d done all of that they wanted and moved on. I once read an interview with Peart where he was asked (this was in the early 90s) whether they would ever do another long-form 20 minute song like 2112. His reply was the very straightforward ‘Been there, done that’. They don’t feel much need to do it again because they’d DONE it.
What I think they did learn from that is the power of discipline. That it’s harder and more punchy to write shorter, more direct songs and still maintain their standards. There’s nothing fundamentally more complex in ‘Hemispheres’ (for example) than ‘The Big Money’ or ‘Far Cry’.
Look, anyone here who’s paid attention to me knows I love me some Rush. But I never (despite a million critics labeling them as such) considered them a ‘progressive’ band. Yes, they’re very very damn good musicians but that just means they’re good musicians. Giving them some artificial label because of that just shows the human need to categorize things even (or maybe especially) when they don’t admit to easy categorization.
That would have been ‘Broadsword’ tour, so probably 1983.