Guide1970s
1970s Rock Bands Who Went Progressive
Plenty of 1970s rock bands began with the blues, with psychedelia or with straight hard rock, and then went somewhere stranger: longer pieces, concept albums, orchestras, keyboards at the centre of the sound and songs that filled a whole side of vinyl. This guide is about those bands. It is not a survey of every rock act of the decade, but of the groups whose music crossed into progressive rock, for one album, for an era or for a whole career, with the record to start with for each one.
From the blues to the long form
Jethro Tull formed in Blackpool in 1967 and came up through the British blues scene. Within a few years they had built a progressive rock sound of their own: Aqualung (1971) gave them their international breakthrough, and Thick as a Brick (1972) went all the way, a single continuous piece of music running for about 43 minutes. Start with: Thick as a Brick (1972).
Rush formed in Toronto in 1968, and their first album drew on blues-based hard rock. By the middle of the decade they had moved into progressive rock. Fly by Night (1975), the first album with drummer and lyricist Neil Peart, pointed the way, and 2112 (1976) opened with a title piece of about twenty minutes, divided into seven sections. Start with: 2112 (1976).
Out of psychedelia
Pink Floyd formed in London in 1965 and were among the first British psychedelic groups; their debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, came out in 1967. Through A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), Atom Heart Mother (1970) and Meddle (1971) they became one of the leading progressive rock bands, and The Dark Side of the Moon followed in 1973. Start with: Meddle (1971), then The Dark Side of the Moon (1973).
Blue Öyster Cult formed on Long Island, in Stony Brook, in 1967. Their music is usually classed as hard rock and heavy metal with progressive rock alongside, and a psychedelic streak in the early years. Start with: Secret Treaties (1974).
Hard rock with a progressive streak
Deep Purple formed in London in 1968, and their genres are usually listed as hard rock, heavy metal and progressive rock. Start with: Deep Purple in Rock (1970), then Machine Head (1972).
Uriah Heep formed in London in 1969 and are classed across hard rock, progressive rock and heavy metal. Start with: Demons and Wizards (1972).
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band were formed in London by the South African musician Manfred Mann and have been active since 1971, with records that move between progressive rock, hard rock and jazz rock. Start with: Solar Fire (1973).
Argent were formed in 1969 by Rod Argent, formerly the keyboard player of the Zombies, and their genres take in rock, progressive rock and hard rock. Start with: In Deep (1973), then Nexus (1974).
I tell the full story of the decade, scene by scene, in my books →
The American side
Kansas formed in Topeka in 1973, with roots in a local group going back to 1969. Their line-up included a violinist, Robby Steinhardt, and Leftoverture (1976) carried the hit single “Carry On Wayward Son”. Start with: Leftoverture (1976).
Styx took their name in Chicago in 1972, after playing as the Tradewinds and then TW4. Their run on A&M began with Equinox (1975) and later produced Kilroy Was Here (1983), a concept album and rock opera. Start with: The Grand Illusion (1977).
Journey formed in San Francisco in 1973, founded by former members of Santana, the Steve Miller Band and Frumious Bandersnatch. Their first three albums, Journey (1975), Look into the Future (1976) and Next (1977), are rooted in progressive rock and jazz fusion; the later records are classed as arena rock, hard rock and soft rock. Start with: Journey (1975).
Where prog met the pop song
Supertramp were formed in London in 1970 around the songwriting of Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, and are known for blending progressive rock with pop. Crime of the Century (1974) was their breakthrough. I wrote a whole book about the band: Supertramp: The Story of the Band Two Songwriters Built. Start with: Crime of the Century (1974).
Electric Light Orchestra formed in Birmingham in 1970, founded by Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood and Bev Bevan with the aim of writing modern rock and pop songs with classical influences. Eldorado (1974) is a concept album about a daydreamer. Start with: Eldorado (1974), then Out of the Blue (1977).
Where to start
If you only try three records from this list, make them three different roads into prog: Thick as a Brick (1972) for the single long-form piece, 2112 (1976) for a hard rock band turning to the epic, and Crime of the Century (1974) for progressive ideas inside pop songwriting. From there, my guide to the best prog albums of the 1970s picks up the decade from the other side, starting from the records rather than the bands.
Go deeper
Follow the decade in three steps with the early 1970s, the mid-1970s and the late 1970s, or step back to the best prog albums by decade. If you want every band on the site in one place, my A to Z of progressive rock bands has them all, and if the label itself is the question, start with what is progressive rock.