Prog Rock


http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/299126/different-kind-progressive-bradley-j-birzer

Attached is an article about the state of current progressive rock by a History professor at Hillsdale College. He highly recommends a band called Big Big Train. I listened to the samples on CDbaby and think it sounds like old Genesis. As a fan of old Yes, ELP, Renaissance, Todd Rundgren's Utopia,Marillion, Kansas, etc, are there any worthwhile prog bands to pursue in 2012? Keep in mind in this genre, I am looking for originality, musicianship, and a big vision. Speed and mindless repetition do not impress. I want to be able to enjoy my system, drink a little wine, and think.
maxnewid
Thanks for all of the recommendations- lots to explore. To this day occaisionally I pull out Yessongs, Kansas' Masque, or play ELP's "Pirates", and of course Annie's voice on "Ashes Are Burning" still sends tingles to the spine. The Hackett/Squire combo sounds interesting. I am just glad to hear that there is creativity out there to further diversify my collection.
Enough fantastic Steve Hackett solo music already since he left Genesis years a go around to get lost in for quite some time alone. Steve seems to always have something a bit different and unexpected up his sleeve....
What was progressive 40 years ago is no longer ground breaking or original... almost without exception the bands listed so far (some of em' are great) ain't gonna give you originality if that's what you're really looking for. Bands like Miriodor, Brown vs. Brown, Univers Zero and Massacre (the band w/ Fred Frith) are a little closer to providing something that hasn't been pre digested.
Not new, but still available:

Krokodil

Le Orme

Alphataurus

Just a few of the great progrock

http://www.synphonic.8m.com/country/lp.htm

Great source for vinyl and cd