THE RATING ROOM
Proceeding from the universally recognized fact that True Masterpieces of Progressive are the
well-known works of early Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, etc., the albums reviewed here are rated
from the standpoint of an "experienced prog-lover". I choose the six-mark grading system (see
it lower). In my opinion, just three basic genres form Progressive Rock: Art (Symphonic) Rock,
Prog Metal and Jazz Fusion, though each of them contains several various categories, or
manifestations, such as RIO, Canterbury, and others. The terms Classic and Neo quite correspond
to profound and accessible. I think that only (once again) three components are determinative
for overall rating - composition, performance, and producing. And as for design, CD-package...
What does that have to do with it?
| Overall Rating: |
 | - Masterpiece |
 | - Excellent album |
 | - Good |
 | - Satisfactory |
 | - Mediocre |
 | - Weak |
BANDLISTS' INTRO
This heading contains the discographies (sometimes they're far from being full, and only the
most important albums are included here) of the Prog-bands depicted in my books about Rock Music,
that were published in Russian and distributed all over the ex-USSR. About some of these albums
(among the others) you can read the "Short and detailed reviews" in English now. Though, if you
want, select a band from the dropdown list here. There are full discographies and line-ups IN
ENGLISH; sorry, the stories are just in Russian. In the due curse I'll try to write reviews in
English on the rest of them, though most will be short, with the exception of the most obscure works,
which I'll consider in detail. Incidentally, I intend to publish selectively some new reviews (as in
the case with After Crying's "6" album, Univers Zero's "Heresie", Arkus' "1914", and others) on the
albums of the bands from my almost finished book "The Progressive Rock" that consists approximately of
1000 stories dedicated only to the "quintessence", and, among others, as a stage for Prog-novices
Neos Fruitcake, Galahad, Epilogue, and the like are necessary. The book also includs full
discographies, line-up changes, etc.
The first Bandlist named "Classic Prog" contains, on the whole, the "profound" Prog-bands
(of course, most of them are my personal favourites, although for the present there's no a lot of
the her Prog-gems included in my new book). In this Bandlist you can also see some Proto-Prog
bands, because all of them have real "Prog" separate songs, and they are great, you know that.
The second Bandlist named "Neo Prog" contains in conformity with the title a catalog of more
accessible performers. And please excuse me if my own opinion does not coincide with yours.
Finally, all the discographies do not contain compilations, including "Live", but they do
contain collections of rare and unreleased songs.
[ BANDLIST | TOP ]
Please send all your remarks and suggestions to Vitaly Menshikov: vit@progressor.net
