10 Greatest Prog Rock Bands

Genesis has got to be one of the most contentious bands in the history of the prog rock genre. Throughout their discography, prog fans have heralded some of their work as the greatest of all time while bashing other albums as making a mockery of everything progressive material stands for. However, for all the sparring that has been thrown at the band, it has been one hell of a journey.

Originally forming in the late '60s with Peter Gabriel up front, the band had some of the most daring soundscapes of the day, with songs like "The Knife" feeling like the sound of rock being split wide open. Even when drafting new members like Steve Hackett and Phil Collins, the band continued to innovate on albums like Selling England by the Pound, where they invented new techniques in production as well as Hackett's use of tapping before Van Halen on "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight."

People tend to check out shortly after Phil Collins took over for Gabriel on vocals, citing the band's change in sound being his fault. The verge into pop was a bit of a mixed bag, but this was beyond just the idea of selling out. Once Genesis hit it big, prog rock finally had the capacity to take on the pop charts and become one of the most seminal genres in all of rock and roll.