Wikipedia defines prog rock as
“Progressive rock, also known as prog rock or prog, is a rock music subgenre that originated in the United Kingdom with further developments in Germany, Italy, and France, throughout the mid-to-late 1960s and 1970s. It developed from psychedelic rock, and originated, similarly to art rock, as an attempt to give greater artistic weight and credibility to rock music. Bands abandoned the short pop single in favor of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz or classical music in an effort to give rock music the same level of musical sophistication and critical respect.”
Three associated genres used on this website are art rock, psychedelic rock and AOR.
Prog Rock Live Albums Recorded In The 1970s
Argent BBC Radio 1 In Concert 1972 and 1974
Argent Encore 1974
Badger One Live Badger 1972
Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso Seguendo Le Tracce 1975
Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso Capolinea 1979
Barclay James Harvest BBC In Concert 1972
Barclay James Harvest Live 1974
Barclay James Harvest Live Tapes 1977
Camel On The Road 1972
Camel On The Road 1974
Camel A Live Record 1974 to 1977
Camel Live At The Hammersmith Odeon 1976
Caravan And The New Symphonia 1973
Caravan Live At The Fairfield Halls 1974
Colosseum Live 1971
Curved Air Airwaves Live at the BBC 1970 to 1976
Curved Air Live 1974
801 Live 1976
801 Live At Hull 1977
Eloy Live 1978
Emerson Lake And Palmer Live At The Isle of Wight Festival 1970
Emerson Lake & Palmer A Time And A Place 1970 to 1998
Emerson Lake & Palmer Pictures At An Exhibition 1971
Emerson Lake & Palmer The Original Bootleg Series from the Manticore Vaults vol 1 1971 1972
Emerson Lake & Palmer Welcome Back My Friends 1974
Emerson Lake & Palmer Works Live 1977
The Enid Live At Hammersmith Vol 1 1979
Focus Live At The Rainbow 1973
Genesis Archive 1967–75
Genesis Live 1973
Genesis Live At The Rainbow 1973
Genesis Archive #2 1976-1992
Genesis Seconds Out 1977
Gentle Giant In a Palesport House 1973
Gentle Giant Playing The Fool 1976
Gentle Giant Live At The Bicentennial 1976
Gnidrolog Live 1972
Grobschnitt Solar Music Live
Harmonium En Tournee 1977
Hawkwind Space Ritual Alive 1972
Hawkwind Greasy Truckers Party 1972
Hawkwind At The BBC 1972
Hawkwind BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert 1972
Steve Hillage BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert 1976 1979
Steve Hillage Live At The Rainbow 1977
Steve Hillage Live Herald 1977 1978
Horslips Live 1976
If Europe 72
Jethro Tull Concierto en Vivo 1972
Jethro Tull Paris 1975
Jethro Tull Bursting Out 1978
Kansas Two For The Show 1978
King Crimson Live At The Marquee August 10th 1971
King Crimson Live at Plymouth Guildhall 1971
King Crimson Ladies of the Road 1971 1972
King Crimson Earthbound 1972
King Crimson The Night Watch 1973
King Crimson The Great Deceiver Part 1 vols 1 & 2 1973 1974
King Crimson The Great Deceiver Part 2 vols 3 & 4 1973 1974
King Crimson USA 1974
King Crimson Live in Central Park NYC 1974
King Crimson The Collectable King Crimson Vol 1 Live in Mainz & Live in Asbury Park 1974
King Crimson Live in Toronto 1974
Locanda Delle Fate Live 1977
Magma Live Hhai 1975
Nektar Sunday Night at London Roundhouse 1973
Nektar Live in New York 1974
Nektar Live at Chipping Norton 1974
Mike Oldfield Exposed 1979
PFM Cook 1974
PFM Paper Charms 1975 1976
Pink Floyd Live At Wembley 1974
Planet Gong Floating Anarchy Live 1977
Procol Harum Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra 1971
Procol Harum BBC Live In Concert 1974
Refugee Live in Concert 1974
Renaissance Live At Carnegie Hall 1975
Renaissance The BBC Sessions 1975-1978
Todd Rundgren’s Utopia Live at Hammersmith Odeon ’75
Todd Rundgren & Utopia Live At The Electric Ballroom 1978
Rush All The World’s A Stage 1976
Rush Different Stages 1978 & 1997
Tangerine Dream Ricochet 1975
Tangerine Dream Encore 1977
Traffic Live At The Fillmore East 1970
Traffic Welcome To The Canteen 1971
Traffic On The Road 1973
UK Night After Night 1979
Van Der Graaf Generator After the Flood Van Der Graaf Generator At The BBC 1968-1977
Van Der Graaf Generator Vital 1978
Rick Wakeman Journey to the Centre of the Earth 1974
Rick Wakeman Live at the BBC 1976
Stomu Yamashta, Steve Winwood etc Go Live From Paris 1976
Yes Something’s Coming The BBC Recordings 1969 to 1970
Yes The Word Is Live 1970 to 1988
Yes Yessongs 1972
Yes Progeny Seven Shows From Seventy-Two
Yes Progeny Highlights From Seventy-Two
Yes Yesshows 1976-78
Frank Zappa Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar 1972 to 1980
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The All Time Best Progress Rock Live Albums
I don’t have a readers poll to find the best prog rock live album for this decade but I do have a poll for the best all time prog rock live albums:
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Because there are so many great progressive rock live albums I have split the poll into two and you may find some of your favourites in the second division. Albums will be promoted when they get enough votes.
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.You can get these albums from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk.
You may also be interested in the poll to find the best art rock live albums.
Live progressive rock albums by decade – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s
Art Rock Live Albums By Decade – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s
Yesshows is the second live album from Yes and captures the group live between 1976 and 1978. This is when Yes and the other dinosaur bands were being challenged by punk.
During the period Yes changed keyboard players with Patrick Moraz leaving and Rick Wakeman returning. Moraz plays on the two very long tracks, The Gates of Delirium and Ritual – Nous Sommes du Soleil with Wakeman on the others.
Vital is the first live album from progressive rock group Van Der Graaf Generator. It was recorded at the Marquee Club in London in January 1978.
For some reason Generator was dropped from the name and the album is billed as Van Der Graaf.
The full title is of this live album by ELP is Welcome Back My Friends, To The Show That Never Ends… Ladies And Gentlemen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
When I was a young lad I used to look at this album and Yessongs by Yes and dream about the days when I could afford to buy a triple LP. It seemed so extravagant.
These two bands, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and Genesis were at the very top of progressive rock’s list of dinosaurs.
Welcome Back My Friends was recorded on the 1973/74 world tour to promote the Brain Salad Surgery album. It was ELP’s second live album to be released after Pictures At An Exhibition.
Continue reading Emerson Lake & Palmer Welcome Back My Friends 1974
All the World’s A Stage is the first live album by Canadian heavy progressive rock band Rush from 1976 concerts promoting their 2112 studio album. It was recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada.
This is a different sounding group than the one that appears on the second live album Exit Stage Left.
Yessongs was the first live album by progressive rock group Yes in 1972 and it was a triple promoting the Fragile and Close To The Edge studio albums. It is now a double CD.
This album challenges the idea that progressive rock live albums aren’t exciting. I’ve even wondered myself whether some groups are better in the studio than live but Yes show they are terrific.
My Rating – 28 out of 30 (10 + 9 + 9)
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars
Genesis Live is the first live album from Genesis featuring charismatic lead singer Peter Gabriel from the Foxtrot tour in 1973.
One of my favourite progressive rock live albums is Seconds Out by Genesis. It was recorded in 1976 and 1977 in Paris on the tours for A Trick Of The Tail and Wind and Wuthering.
I must admit to an element of bias in favour of this rather than Genesis Live.
I was first introduced to Genesis through a review of A Trick Of The Tail in a weekly music paper called Sounds and bought both Wind and Wuthering and Seconds Out as soon as I saw them. I also saw Genesis live in Stafford in 1976 or 1977.
This means I never had any trouble with the move from Peter Gabriel to Phil Collins as the lead singer and have a mixed opinion of the Gabriel era Genesis.
For some reason the Trespass and Nursery Cryme studio albums have made little impact with me and I believe The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is both overblown, over-complicated and over-rated.
