Neo-prog, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Rock 1954
The whole family: guitar, bass, drums and a beat borrowed from blues and rhythm and blues. Every branch below grows out of this trunk, metal included.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
The Beatles - Revolver, if you want to understand why everything branched so fast.
The Beatles, Revolver (1966) - 2 Then
Progressive rock 1968
Rock with classical ambitions: odd meters, twenty-minute suites, mellotron. The direct foundation of progressive metal.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King. The first track tells you everything.
King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) - 3 What you asked about
Neo-prog 1981
Prog's 1980s comeback, with digital keyboards, shorter songs and more melodrama.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Marillion - Misplaced Childhood. A continuous album with no gaps between tracks.
Marillion, Misplaced Childhood (1985) - 4 Where to go next
Alt-country / Americana 1990
Country filtered through punk and indie: same instruments, very different attitude toward Nashville.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Wilco - Being There. A double album that cannot decide on a genre, to its benefit.
Wilco, Being There (1996)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Neo-prog descends from, in order. Neo-prog has no subgenres, so the last step is the genre that rates closest to it by sound.