10 Best Progressive Rock Bands Of All Time
2. Rush
The cheap shot that most music fans throw at prog rock is that it's a genre for nerds. For the people who think of themselves as too good for a genre like this, it would make sense why they wouldn't want to try to learn about odd time signatures or be willing to go on a long journey throughout a record. As anyone who's seen Revenge of the Nerds will tell you though, you should never count the nerds out any time soon.
Although Rush have been known as the nerdiest of the progressive bands, they still packed one hell of a punch on every single record. Across each iteration of the band, they were never afraid to dip their toes into any genre they saw fit, going from elongated album journeys in the '70s to going full fledged synth pop in the '80s and finding their rock chops again later in life.
Somewhere in the middle though, they managed to hit the sweet spot of their writing where they condensed the prog experience into an accessible package, with the mainstream coming to them rather than having to actually dumb down their sound in any way. Even though they called it quits years ago and Neil Peart is no longer with us, Rush are one of the few bands that tried practically everything they could during the time they were together.