Prog Features

Known for a Marmite voice, personal songwriting and a powerful sense of drama, his influence runs deeper than most people realise

Canada's prog rock heroes have amassed an immense discography over a 50-year career... and now they're hitting the road again

Awesome new prog sounds you must hear from Hilary Woods, Lunar & The Deception, RO1, Oslo Tapes and more in this week's Tracks Of The Week

They hadn’t released an album in five years before turning things round with a heavily conceptual double release – and their struggles became part of their science-fiction saga

Pattern-Seeking Animals keyboardist praises Banks’ ear, taste and understatement, which he argues is essential to everything Genesis achieved

With input from Brian Eno and Adrian Belew, the creatively explosive 1980 album was a turning point for the American band – and many other artists

They were The Beatles – or so a million record buyers thought in 1977

Why you should expect the expected and the unexpected at Todd Rundgren's upcoming shows

In 2012 Geddy Lee discussed their 20th studio title – their only end-to-end concept record – from the aspect of a band who’d come to terms with their youthful years and transformed into a pop-culture phenomenon

Best known for his12 years with Steve Hackett, the US-born Swede explores his own life and times at last. And is that a Pink Floyd reference as sings about being frontman and sideman in someone else’s project?

Their Bioscope debut arrived after the pair took advice from Steven Wilson, spent a week every winter exploring sounds and ideas, and borrowed Elbow’s drummer to fulfil their instrumental cinematic vision

Ron Mael (the operatic one) and Russell Mael (the staring one) never discussed being different; but as LA brothers inspired by British prog and glam, they always were. They only rule they made was: “Shake up the universe”

1975 album remains a fan favourite – and despite their struggle to make it, the band insist the spirit of love shines through the grief and anger amid the theme of absence and their feelings about Syd Barrett

Their former leader found himself in serious trouble after his WOMAD festival lost money. So the classic line-up returned to stage their Six Of The Best show in 1982, leaving an indelible mark on prog history

2015 album saw the djent pioneers continue their move away from frenzied metal to thought-provoking prog, meaning the singer had to embrace a new way of creative thinking

War, peace, dictators and a failed pursuit of young love were at the heart of the band’s attempt to make “proper grown-up music” in 1972

Mikael Åkerfeldt on his violent games, hotel balcony prank, soaking a label exec in vodka, and being left to make music his own way

The Anchoress, Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel, Auri’s Johanna Kurkela, The Blackheart Orchestra’s Chrissy Mostyn and Exploring Birdsong’s Lynsey Ward celebrate the 1985 album’s enduring magic and influence

The folk rock hero reflects on what the world lost when groups of hopeful artists stopped forming their own schools, like he did in the 60s with Bert Jansch, Paul Simon, Alexis Korner, John Martyn, Al Stewart and others