We list some of the best Progressive rock bands of all time. Progressive rock, also known as Prog rock, is a music genre based on fusions of styles, approaches and genres. It’s characterized by ambitious compositions, experimentation, concept-driven lyrics, and musical virtuosity. Progressive rock developed in the United Kingdom and and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Queensrÿche are considered one of the leaders of the progressive metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and often referred to as one of the “Big Three” of the genre, along with Dream Theater and Fates Warning.
1. Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd is an English rock band, formed in London in 1965. Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by Syd Barrett (guitar, lead vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals), and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). Gaining a following as a psychedelic band, they were distinguished for their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows, and became a leading band of the progressive rock genre. They were inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
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2. Muse
Muse is an alternative rock band from Teignmouth, England, United Kingdom. The band consists of Matthew Bellamy on lead vocals, piano, keyboard and guitar, Chris Wolstenholme on backing vocals and bass guitar, and Dominic Howard on drums and percussion. Muse have won numerous awards, including two Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards, five MTV Europe Music Awards and eight NME Awards.
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3. Kansas
Kansas is a progressive rock band that formed in Topeka, Kansas, United States in 1970. The band is best known for their international hit singles “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind”, from 1976 and 1977 respectively. Kansas appeared on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the 1970s and 1980s and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan.
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4. Supertramp
Supertramp are a British group playing a mix of progressive rock and pop rock that notably had a series of top-selling albums in the 70s, producing several hit singles. Their highest album sales were in Canada, where they had two diamond-certified (ten-times platinum) albums (Crime of the Century and Breakfast in America).
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5. Genesis
Genesis formed in 1967 in Godalming, Surrey (United Kingdom) and was one of the most popular progressive rock bands in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. During the 1970s, Peter Gabriel was the lead singer until his departure, when drummer Phil Collins stepped up to the mic and replaced him. They have won numerous awards (including a Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video with “Land of Confusion”) and have inspired a number of tribute bands recreating Genesis shows from various stages of the band’s career. In 2010, Genesis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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6. Deep Purple
Deep Purple is an English hard rock band that formed in Hertfordshire in 1968. They’re regarded as pioneers of the popular music genre of heavy metal along such acts as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. The band (specifically Blackmore, Lord, Paice, Gillan, Glover, Coverdale, Evans, and Hughes) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
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7. Rush
Rush was a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto in 1968 by guitarist Alex Lifeson, drummer John Rutsey and bass guitarist/vocalist Jeff Jones, who was immediately replaced by bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee. Over time, Rush has changed their style of music dramatically; evolving from a sound derivative of Led Zeppelin on their eponymous debut album to styles encompassing hard rock, progressive rock, and a period dominated by synthesizers.
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8. The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. The band released eleven studio albums in its 15-year career, the most successful being I Robot (1977) and Eye in the Sky (1982).
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9. Yes
Yes is a British progressive rock band which formed in London, United Kingdom in 1968. They are best known for 1970’s “I’ve Seen All Good People”, the 1972 9-minute US Top 20 smash “Roundabout” and their 1983 No. 1 hit “Owner of a Lonely Heart”.
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10. The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge, and bassist Clint Warwick. The band has sold over 70 million albums worldwide, which includes 18 platinum and gold LPs.
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11. A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American rock supergroup formed in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. The band’s studio albums have been generally well received critically and commercially, with their first three studio albums selling 4 million copies collectively as of 2005.
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12. Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull is a progressive rock / folk rock band which formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, England in 1967. They have been described by Rolling Stone as “one of the most commercially successful and eccentric progressive rock bands”.
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13. Dream Theater
Dream Theater is a progressive metal band from Long Island, New York formed originally as Majesty by their three core members Mike Portnoy, John Petrucci and John Myung on June 20th 1985, the latter two of which, have remained with the band since its inception in 1985. Along with Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, the band has been referred to as one of the “big three” of the progressive metal genre, responsible for its development and popularization.
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14. Procol Harum
Procol Harum is a British rock band formed in London, England, in 1967. They contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. The band’s claim to fame came with the hit single “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, in 1967.
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15. Marillion
Marillion are a rock band formed in Aylesbury, England . Their 30-year career is marked by two distinctive phases; the early years fronted by Fish which saw their greatest commercial success, and much longer period fronted by Steve Hogarth in which the band have constantly re-invented themselves so as to continue to be relevant into the 21st century. Despite unpopularity in the mainstream media and a consistently unfashionable status within the British music industry, Marillion have maintained a very loyal international fanbase.
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16. Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1980 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The original lineup consisted of guitarists Michael Wilton and Chris DeGarmo, drummer Scott Rockenfield, bassist Eddie Jackson, and lead vocalist Geoff Tate. Queensrÿche are considered one of the leaders of the progressive metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and often referred to as one of the “Big Three” of the genre, along with Dream Theater and Fates Warning.
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17. Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, were an English progressive rock supergroup which was formed in 1970 in England, United Kingdom. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (bass guitar, vocals, guitar) and Carl Palmer (drums, percussion). They are one of the most popular and commercially successful progressive rock bands.
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18. King Crimson
King Crimson are a progressive rock group from London, England, United Kingdom formed in 1968 by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles. Though originally an all-British musical group, later members have included a number of Americans, most notably Adrian Belew, and Tony Levin. Their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969), remains their most commercially successful and influential release, with a potent mixture of jazz, classical and experimental music.
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19. Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth’s driving force throughout the years. Opeth did not experience major American commercial success until the 2008 release of their ninth studio album, Watershed, which peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, and topped the Finnish albums chart in its first week of release.
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20. Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a British progressive rock band formed in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom in 1987. The band’s early sound evoked various styles of psychedelic rock, space rock and experimental rock, later moving towards a more progressive/space rock direction comparable to that of Pink Floyd.
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21. The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock group formed in El Paso, TX, in 2001, by guitarist Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez and vocalist Cedric Bixler Zavala. The band’s second studio album, Frances the Mute (2005), was self-produced by Rodríguez-López and was the first to feature longterm members Juan Alderete (bass) and Marcel Rodríguez-López. The album debuted at No. 4 on the US Billboard 200 and became the band’s biggest commercial success, selling over 500,000 copies in the US and achieving Gold certification from the RIAA.
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22. Camel
Camel is an English progressive rock group from London, England, United Kingdom. They formed circa 1964 when brothers Andrew and Ian Latimer got together with their respective friends Alan Butcher and Richard Over to form The Phantom Four. Without achieving mass popularity, the band gained a cult following in the 1970s with albums such as Mirage (1974) and The Snow Goose (1975).
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23. Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the extreme complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members, except Malcolm Mortimore, were multi-instrumentalists. Although not commercially successful, they did achieve a cult following.
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24. Eloy
Eloy is a progressive rock band from Germany, whose musical style includes symphonic and space rock, the latter being more prevalent on earlier albums. The band took their name from the Eloi, a futuristic race of people in the H.G. Wells novel The Time Machine.
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25. Rare Bird
Rare Bird were a progressive rock band that came together in the 1960s. They were formed in England, but had more success in other European countries than they did at home. In the UK, they never charted with an album but charted with one single, the organ-based track “Sympathy”, which peaked at number 27. It sold one million copies globally.
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26. Pain of Salvation
Pain of Salvation is a progressive metal band from Eskilstuna, Sweden. The band centres on lead vocalist, guitarist, composer, and writer Daniel Gildenlöw. Their third and most famous album, The Perfect Element I was released in 2000 and received a great response from the crowd and critics, making them the second most famous Progressive Metal band over the world.
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27. Premiata Forneria Marconi
Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) (translation: Award-winning Marconi Bakery) is an Italian progressive rock band originating from Milan, Italy. They were the first Italian group to have success abroad, entering both the British and American charts. Their longevity have earned PFM a place among the most important bands in the Progressive rock genre.
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28. Soft Machine
Soft Machine was a pioneering psychedelic, progressive rock and jazz band from Canterbury, United Kingdom, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury Scene. Though they achieved little commercial success, the Soft Machine are considered by critics to have been influential in rock music.
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29. Strawbs
Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. Although the band started out as a bluegrass group, they eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock, progressive rock, and (briefly) glam rock. They are best known for their hit, “Part of the Union”, which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in February 1973.
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30. Nektar
Nektar is probably the most German-like of the Seventies British bands, a fame that owes a lot to the town in which this band was founded (Hamburg) and to their stylistic approach (Assimilated to Krautrock). Nektar was formed in 1969 by Allan Freeman (keyboards & vocals), Roye Albrighton (guitars & vocals), Derek More (bass, Mellotron & vocals) and Ron Howden (drums).
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Honorable mentions
31. Van der Graaf Generator
32. Le Orme
33. Curved Air
34. Family
35. Arena
36. Oceansize
37. The Nice
38. U.K.
39. Fates Warning
40. Spock’s Beard
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