What Albums Should I Buy First? Quiz

Answer: The Dark Side of the Moon

From the song "Eclipse":

"...and everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon."

If you listen very closely to the end of the last song "Eclipse", you will hear the following:

"there is no dark side of the moon really, matter of fact it's all dark."

Answer: Kansas

You will notice in this quiz that there is an overlap between "progressive rock" and "classic rock", and the album "Leftoverture" by Kansas is a great example. The song "Carry On Wayward Son" is an anthem of classic rock, but it is also (in my opinion) a good example of heavier progressive rock - note that the song has a different stucture than a "typical" rock song, starting a cappella, then instrumental, and several "slower" parts to the song. Other good "deep cuts" on the album include "The Wall" and "What's On My Mind".

If you've ever listened to early Kansas, they began doing progressive rock in somewhat the same style of ELP (which appears in a later question). Check out their early tracks such as "Death of Mother Nature Suite" and "Song for America" to hear some of their more progressive songs.

Answer: Asia

The self-titled first album by Asia still holds up, but it is more "progressive pop", but still I will put it on the list. Lead singer John Wetton was the lead singer of King Crimson (see last question) for the albums "Lark's Tongues in Aspic", "Starless and Bible Black", and "Red".

The song "Starless" off "Red" is one of my favorite progressive rock tracks - incredible musicianship by Wetton on bass, Bill Bruford on drums, and Robert Fripp on guitar. The other members of Asia were also well known: Carl Palmer was the "P" in ELP, Steve Howe who played guitar was a member of Yes, and keyboardist Geoff Downes was known for playing on the Yes album "Drama", but is probably better known as a member of "The Buggles" who did "Video Killed the Radio Star".

Answer: Supertramp

This is my favorite Supertramp album. This album was released in 1974 and also contains the tracks "School" and "Rudy". You may not think of Supertramp as a progressive rock band, but "Crime of the Century" and "Even in the Quietest Moments" are two albums with many progressive tracks. The song "Fool's Overture" from "Even in the Quietist Moments" is almost eleven minutes long.

Answer: The Night: Nights in White Satin

"Days of Future Passed" is a concept album based around a single day. Here are the songs as listed on the album:

1. The Day Begins
2. Dawn: Dawn is a Feeling
3. The Morning: Another Morning
4. Lunch Break: Peak Hour
5. The Afternoon
a. Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)
b. (Evening) Time to Get Away
6. Evening
a. The Sun Set
b. Twilight Time
7. The Night: Nights in White Satin

The other well known track on this album is track 5, which you may know better as "Tuesday Afternoon/Evening Time to Get Away".

The Moody Blues perform on this album with The London Festival Orchestra conducted by Peter Knight. Much of the music is very orchestral/symphonic, and there are many places where the words "rock music" would not apply!

If you have never heard the entire album, then you may be surprised that it begins the way it ends, with the following lines:

"Cold hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colours from our sight.
Red is grey and yellow white,
But we decide which is right.
And which is an illusion?"

But doesn't it make sense that the album should do this, since it is about the day, and after "The Night", "The Day Begins"?

All of the early albums (From "Days of Future Passed" through "Seventh Sojourn") are great albums by the Moody Blues, but in my opinion the most "progressive rock" sounding of them may be "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour", which by the way spells EGBDF.

Answer: Aqualung

The song "Aqualung" is not your typical rock song - look at how it is structured: The middle section is really "mellow" compared to the hard rock intro and conclusion. This album also contains "Locomotive Breath", which has that well-known piano intro.

Some of my personal favorites are "Cross-eyed Mary" (think "Aqualung part 2"), "Mother Goose" which is a good example of the "minstrel" side of Tull, and "Wind Up", the final song on the album. And of course the lead singer Ian Anderson plays the flute, which is an unusual instrument for a "hard rock" band!

Answer: Roundabout

This album contains the "classic Yes" lineup of Jon Anderson on vocals, Bill Bruford on drums, Steve Howe on electric and acoustic guitars, Rick Wakeman on keyboards, and Chris Squire on bass guitar. The song "Roundabout" is another "classic rock anthem", yet the lyrics are unusual and the song structure is different - note the opening sounds before the song begins.

This album is really diverse - the second track, titled "Cans and Brahms", consists of "Extracts from Brahms' 4th symphony in E minor, Third Movement". My personal favorite track is "South Side of the Sky" which is really dramatic.

Answer: Peter Gabriel

All of the other answers are people who have been members of Genesis (and all played on the album), but the band's original lead singer was Peter Gabriel. Peter Gabriel has had more success as a solo artist than when he was with Genesis, but the early Peter Gabriel Genesis albums are some of their finest progressive rock albums (and for that matter, some of the finest progressive rock albums period! Of course this is my opinion...)

"Selling England By the Pound" contains terrific musicianship and very symphonic style music. One of my favorite songs on the album is "Cinema Show" which has an incredible instrumental section. Peter Gabriel's vocals add drama throughout the album, and other early Genesis albums. I will say that this album doesn't sound like later Genesis albums (1980s and beyond), but I recommend giving the whole album a chance - this is an album where "sampling" may not be enough to get the overall sound. This is probably one of the more difficult albums of the ten I'm recommending to get first, but it's also one of the most "progressive".

Answer: Emerson, Lake and Palmer

The self-titled "Emerson, Lake and Palmer" album was released in 1970. In addition to "Lucky Man", you'll find five other tracks. The album starts off with an instrumental "The Barbarian", then is followed by the longest song on the album "Take a Pebble" at nearly 12 and a half minutes. I would describe "Take a Pebble" as a relatively short song with certain "instrumentals" thrown into the middle. I enjoy it, but I will admit it "doesn't rock".

The next track, "Knife-edge", is (in my opinion) the best track on the album. That is followed by "The Three Fates", the instrumental "Tank" (which is a fun listen) and "Lucky Man".

Answer: purple

Yes, it's the color purple! There are more colorful lyrics in this song:

"The black queen chants the funeral march, The cracked brass bells will ring;"

"On soft grey mornings widows cry, The wise men share a joke;"

"The yellow jester does not play, But gently pulls the strings"

All of the songs on the album were written by Peter Sinfield, who wrote songs for the first 4 King Crimson albums. The above lyrics were all sung by Greg Lake, later of ELP fame. This album contains one of the best juxtapositions of songs you'll find on any album: The manic "21st Century Schizoid Man" is immediately followed by the calm "I Talk to the Wind". I really love this - it's like taking a break after listening to "Schizoid Man".

King Crimson have gone through many lineup changes over the years (the guitarist Robert Fripp is the only person in common with all the albums).

I hope you enjoyed the quiz! Here's my disclaimer - these are albums that I believe would make a good starting point. There are lots of albums I have left out. Since I was interested in a starting point, I left out albums by Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf Generator, Renaissance, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Le Orme, Caravan, Camel, Soft Machine, Nektar, National Health, Happy the Man, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Magma, and Anglagard. I also didn't include any modern neoprogressive bands, such as Marillion, Porcupine Tree, Spock's Beard, Glass Hammer, and The Flower Kings. Progressive metal such as Dream Theater or Rush was also left out. And even with the bands I chose, I could have chosen different albums. Please send me feedback if you do decide to check out these albums - let me know what you think! Thanks for playing!