Best Prog bands to start after mid70s

No solo or side-projects even if some did regard Steve Hillage as a great new force in a bleak time for Prog.

I mean bands who were completely new and started when it was harder to gain a following. I have 2 criticisms for Prog after the classic era,, one is that they can sound over-produced and too slick, shiny and artificial,,, two is that their vocalists are not often as bonkers as the old ones and sometimes sound a bit too poppy/radio-friendly.

I like Mew, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Battles, Guapo and I struggled with chewing a band called Frost for a long time but ended up loving them. I'm currenly listening to IQ right now and I'm a little unsure at the moment.
I've yet to give a proper listen to Secret Machines, Spocks Beard and Tool,, despite the amount of venom towards Dream Theatre and Marillion, I'll give those guys a shot too. I recently read an Uncut review of the music of the earliest line-up of Marillion and it sounded really interesting.

From the little I have heard of Mars Volta, I have mixed feelings, I didnt really like Coheed&Cambria and although I think they are okay, Muse never really seemed over-the-top or unusual enough to be called a major prog band.

Any huge favorites or cautionary tales???

Why?

Best Prog Revival Genre could a be useful point of reference.

I had a look at that thread earlier, I'd like more despcriptions of your favorite bands.

"Why?"
I like Prog....Morrissey with Southpaw Grammar does not count.

I always thought Jane's Addiction sounded like Yes.

Here And Now....Maybe a little early for this thread [74/75? and later] but for me they always captured the essence of the original Space Rock/Jam bands in the vein of MAN....Their later affiliations with GONG is maybe a pointer....

Everyone to post to this thread so far (except KBP) has a strikingly prog-friendly username

The thing that I hate about the current "prog" "revival" is that it just seems to be a catch-all term for things that have nothing to do with prog. The other day I heard the freaking Mystery Jets described as Prog. Um... NO!

Can I talk about the upcoming Chrome Hoof/Cluster show that I'm so excited about here? Probably not. Ah well. I'll go back to bed and listen to my Zombi MP3s some more.

The thing that I hate about the current "prog" "revival" is that it just seems to be a catch-all term for things that have nothing to do with prog. The other day I heard the freaking Mystery Jets described as Prog. Um... NO!

OTM. For much of this stuff (a large amount of which basically constitutes my core music-taste lolz), "psych" or "art-rock" or even "there's no genre qualification for this music" suffices better than ye olde four-letter word.

And yeah, talk about that show! At length! I'm seriously considering attending it myself and I've never even HEARD Cluster! Chrome Hoof are feckin' brilliance, to be fair...

Happy the Man - American prog band formed in the late 70s. Their first two albums are marvelous.

seriously considering attending it myself and I've never even HEARD Cluster!

LOL at Cluster turning up in a Prog thread

I know, I know, Cluster are, like the *least* prog of the Krautrock bands, but you cannot deny that Chrome Hoof are neo-prog.

Also, this might be as good a place as any to mention that Litmus supposedly have a new album coming out henceforth or shortly?

I'll certainly second the Happy the Man recommendation, they were an excellent band.

My 2 picks would be IQ and Anglagard, both somewhat revivalist, especially anglagard, but with material, arrangements and playing strong enough to transcend that. Anglagard's "epilog" I think is one of the most outstanding progressive albums ever.

I would personally avoid Spock's Beard, I find their music to be sappy and cheezy beyond redemption. I don't think I've heard a single piece by them that I didn't dislike.

Like Ms Boom, I see/hear a whole bunch of shit described as progressive of late that really doesn't seem to have much that could be described as so, really.

Really don't enjoy Porcupine Tree or Dream Theatre, too much Malmsteen Steamroller shit going on for my taste. First 2 IQ albums are brilliant, then I think it's fair to say they dropped off hard for a while. I really like Fish as a lyricist, Marillion did a lot of good stuff with him even tho they were guilty of your over-produced/leaning hard on bad AOR whimsy thing at times. Agree that most of the rest of the stuff you've described is Not Really Prog. Never had any desire ever to hear Spock's Beard. I guess the problem with the Neo stuff and onwards is that ironically if they pushed the sound on too far it stopped being Prog and if they rehashed the seventies sounds then it was doomed to be an inferior copy. I will take any excuse to rep for Birds of Avalon who have a hefty shot of Rush-esque Prog in their sound tho.

Oh and if you're after all the neo-prog you can find then early Pallas and Twelfth Night are worth a listen. Pendragon and As Above So Below, not so much, more for completists.

I feel like i'm turning into Frances at this point - "FALSE PROG! FALSE KRAUTROCK!!!"

It's become a lazy journo shorthand thing but I just shrug. It is fair enough to say there are bits of non-Prog bands that remind you of Prog I think. There's a bit on the High School Musical 3 album that sounds like Yes, honest to god.

I know, I know, Cluster are, like the *least* prog of the Krautrock bands

POLL! <<<<<<<<<<<<<< joke, please ignore

the new steven wilson album is really good. and i've never been all that into porcupine tree either. he seems to have accounted for some of the production complaints like the ones people above have

If yer selective, there's a lot of great shit in Steven Wilson/Porc Tree's discog. It's just that there's a lot of it, and there's a lot of filler.

for sure. the new steve wilson album's his first one that i feel pretty about listening to straight through, bonus disc included

paatos's kallocain is worth a listen, and ruins' symphonica. which reminds me -- a japanese supergroup called ruinzhatova, with guys from ruins, boredoms, and acid mothers temple, cover "close to the edge" note for note. it's completely awesome

If there is one thing that makes a Prog band for sure, it is those 10 to 30 minute epic tracks with some sort of narrative structure and lots of twists and bends,, which is my favorite trope of Prog.
Some guy made a list of these, I've only heard the first 2 albums on his list...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Albums-containing-long-Progressive-Rock-tracks/lm/R6N9IYO50S6LM/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full

I think all the original bands I listed up there that I liked in my original post are surely all prog...

-Mew has a bass/drums combination that sounds very Prog, the song titles and lyrics are bonkers in a very Prog way,, but the Shoegazing tinges are the thing that keep them from going straight under the label.
-Battles sound incredibly like Yes at many points and they even said Close to the Edge and Fragile among other Prog bands were an influence.
-Guapo are always compared to King Crimson and Univers Zero,, and I only heard of them because I went into a shop and asked for "modern Prog".

the future kings of england are also really good. a nice mix of hawkwind and pre-dark side floyd. and the Diagonal debut last year is really solid

Can someone explain what's "strikingly prog-friendly" about candy corn for lunch and dinner, apart from potentially being made of complex sugars? What exactly are the ingredients in candy corn anyway?

I know I am alone in this, but for me, The Flower Kings beat everything else that has arrived on the scene after the mid 70s.

(And I love Spock's Beard too - at least as long as Neal Morse was still in the band. The only thing I strongly dislike about them is that they have way too much dynamic range compression, which is always disastrous in the prog genre)

Thinking Plague - In This Life: Classic or Dud?

best prog bands to start after mid70s, but in the 70s:

Art Bears: UK trio coming out of Henry Cow. Weill/Brecht communist art song + cool production

Eskaton: French band playing hi-nrg zeuhl/fusion prog

Weidorje: see eskaton, but maybe playing more off Magma's "inspirational" side

Cardiacs: started as Cardiac Arrest playing Gentle Giant-esque punk prog. pretty cool, still really "cardiacs"

Aksak Maboul: RIO, middle eastern and other "world" musics, plus cool synth and electronics sometimes

Etron Fou Leloublan: French RIO, sax, toy drums. drummer Guigou Chenevier still does cool stuff

Albert Marcouer: first album 1974. still makes cool stuff! French RIO, Zappa sometimes in instrumentation, but actually takes itself less seriously (and is to me more musically interesting)

Pataphonie: French RIO, sometimes Henry Cow/Faust, tho not necessarily in the songs, but the improv, electronics

Conventum: Canadian prog-folk, with pretty cool interlocking (acoustic) guitar lines and sometimes vocals

Cos: Belgian RIO, but more in the aksak maboul (sharing Marc Hollander) vein than henry cow/art bears. i like pascale son as a vocalist too

This Heat?

Aksak Maboul: RIO, middle eastern and other "world" musics, plus cool synth and electronics sometimes

Conventum: Canadian prog-folk, with pretty cool interlocking (acoustic) guitar lines and sometimes vocals

Yes. I would also like to add Rational Diet, ZGA, Hamster Theatre, Koenjihyakkei