For the past few years, I have been listing what I consider the great progressive rock and related classic rock albums from fifty years before. This year 2026 would mean listing great progressive rock and related classic rock albums from 1976. Sadly, the wheels had begun to come off from several of the most famous progressive rock bands, with Yes, Renaissance, PFM, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer releasing no albums that year. Nonetheless, there are still some great albums released in 1976.
Gentle Giant, "Interview." This was a problematic album at the time as it was an inward look that was too eclectic for the larger audience that had begun loving Gentle Giant for its previous album, "Free Hand." Over the decades, there are outstanding songs from the album that stand on their own. "Design" may be the best multi-voice work they ever did, even more than "On Reflection," though the latter remains uniquely powerful as well.
Genesis, "Trick of the Tail." This was a surprising album, as people including me figured Genesis would go mostly instrumental, as with Camel (see below), after Peter Gabriel left. Instead, Genesis began a three year trek toward commercial oriented music, though this album has plenty of progressive elements from start to finish. This was a fun album to hear, and seeing the concert tour that year, where Bill Bruford joined Phil Collins behind drum kits, was a great treat. The night I saw Genesis on this tour, April 9, 1976, was the night Phil Ochs committed suicide. I had never heard of Phil Ochs, much to my embarrassment, but I knew of some of his songs. In those days, where a college radio station played Ochs, I would wonder, "Who IS that?" and then forget to call the radio station to ask. In the pre-Internet days, one never knew who played what unless the DJ told us right after it was played. A friend of mine, who had an older sister who revered Phil, then lent me a double album of Ochs' songs, and I became a Phil Ochs fanatic. I've read the two main bios and have nearly everything that has been released about Ochs. Anyway, though, this Genesis album remains even more powerful as time has gone by, though it cannot meet the leve of the previous albums with Gabriel.
Genesis, "Wind and Wuthering." This was released at the tail end--pun intended--of the year, but I think the US market did not see a release until January 1977. This was a step more toward commerciality, but the first track and a few others still showed progressive tendencies. A solid album with some outstanding to this day tracks.
Camel, "Moonmadness." This was third part of the trio of the greatest Camel albums, starting with "Mirage" (1974) and "Snow Goose" (1975). One can still go from start to finish with this album.
Kansas, "Leftoverture." This is an extraordinary album! It perfectly encapsulates a progressive sound with a commercial pop sound. It has "Carry On My Wayward Son," but so many great, longer progressive tracks. I still love "Carry On," too. Again, an extraordinary album that was to be the pinnacle of the band's creative output.
Soft Machine, "Softs." This is the first album with guitarist John Etheridge, fresh from Darryl Way's Wolf. This has "Out of Season" among other great instrumental tracks.
Tangerine Dream, "Straosfear." This was an interesting album at the time, but one that never made me return much to it over the years. This German band never emotionally reached me, though I knew others who loved this band.
Rush, "2112." I have never been a Rush fan, which I chalk up to my perhaps lack of taste. I will never begrudge a Rush fan, as they have been important in progressive rock annals. This was perhaps one of their two or three top albums for those willing to listen.
Brand X, "Unorthodox Behaviour." This was Phil Collins' other band, where he could let his fusion-jazz-progressive rock playing fly. The other players were classic Canterbury type progressive rock musicians, who knew how to play and with some humor laced within the instrumental music. A great album to this day.
Van der Graaf Generator, "Still Life" and "World Record." I was privileged to see VDGG in its only US tour appearance, a one shot show in NYC (they also played Boston, I believe). They were nervous and took a bit to get comfortable with the NYC audience. The albums were, sadly, weak, when compared to even "Godbluff" (1975), which has gotten better over the decades per progressive rock fans. When that latter album was released, it was seen as deficient compared to the previous three albums, but, again, over time, there are great tracks and the album flows start to finish. "Still Life" has "La Rossa" and "Still Life" title track, but not much else. "World Record" has the opening track and the side 2 monster track, "Mergulys III." However, that monster track is not anywhere as memorable beyond the first five minutes as the entirety of Tull's "Brick" and "Passion Play" one track albums, or the one side tracks' Yes' "Close to the Edge," Pink Floyd's "Echoes," or Genesis' "Supper's Ready." Still worth a listen.
Caravan, "Blind Dog at St. Dunstans." Caravan trying to get more "poppy," but not producing anything memorable as far as I can see or hear.
Frank Zappa, "Zoot Allures." This was a weak instrumental album, and, at the time, I wondered about the future of Zappa. The next year, he would release "Zappa in New York" which had some great tracks, though the lyrics are fully cringe at this point in our cultural history. As for pure instrumental albums, Zappa would come back in the 1980s with "Jazz from Hell," which brought back memories of a previous serious and hard mostly instrumental album, "The Grand Wazoo" from 1972.
Queen, "A Day at the Races." A weaker sequel to the 1975 release, "A Night at the Opera," I must say Queen straddled prog and pop better than any other band of the decade. The songs on "A Day at the Races," other than "Somebody to Love" are now largely forgettable, but Queen is an iconic 1970s band in a way the other prog bands can only look at with admitted envy. I love that this British band chose titles from two of the great Marx Bros. films of the 1930s. There was always a retro-1920s/1930s sound within Queen's melodies, and even some of their lyrics. Playful, sharp, and ironic.
Electric Light Orchestra, "A World Record." This was ELO's full march into pop music and away from progressive. It has "Telephone Line," a ballad that harkened back to earlier prog ELO ballads, and a remake of the great Move song, "Do Ya," though this one lacks the punch of the original version. Jeff Lynne wanted a Paul McCartney and Wings sound and he got it on this album. And much of his audience overlapped. We prog fans merely bid them farewell. :)
Curved Air, "Airborne." Darryl Way returned to play on this album, but it did not help in the least. It was a confusing album, where it tried to straddle pop and prog and utterly failed. It was quickly in retainer bins of records stores for $0.99 and it couldn't sell even then. Well, I bought it and was appalled at how bad it was.
Kayak, "The Last Encore." This band's first two albums were awesome mixes of pop and prog, and really as good or sometimes better than most Queen tracks. This Dutch band just didn't take off beyond Europe. This album, however, is best described as a clunker. Just misses any emotive power.
Jethro Tull, "Too Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die." This is the worst album Tull released during the 1969 to 1980 run of albums. It is awful from start to finish. Dull, self-absorbed, and so bad it is weird. There are no songs worth hearing then or years later. I worried about Tull's future at the time, but the next year, Tull released "Songs from the Wood," which was a great album with powerful tracks.
Billy Joel, "Turnstiles." This should surprise people, but it has great progressive rock elements. "Angry Young Man," "Summer, Highland Falls" (sometimes understood as "Sadness or Euphoria") and "New York State of Mind" definitely go into progressive rock structures. I am glad Billy Joel has gotten respect as a musical mind beyond being a mere pop star.
Banco, Goblin, and La Orme, three Italian prog bands, released albums in 1976. I admit to having never heard any of the four albums (two from Banco). I will have to try them, as I am sure they are now on YouTube. I did not know either band in the 1970s, and did not hear of them until the dawn of the Internet in the mid 1990s. I have become a fan of what I have heard, but my knowledge of them is sadly limited. My Son, however, can probably vouch for them as he went full throttle into progressive and other types of music over his still three decades of life.
When or if we reach 2027, and we write about 1977 releases, it should more of the same, but with some great albums, such as the first National Health album.
