The Best + Worst Synth-Era Albums From 5 Classic Prog Rock Bands

Here are the best and worst synth-era albums from five classic prog rock bands!

For most of the 1970s, progressive rock remained faithful to its roots by prioritizing traditional rock/classical instrumentation, virtuosic musicianship, lengthy track durations and sophisticated songwriting. As the decade ended, however, numerous artists began embracing the creative and commercial potentials of increasingly popular styles such as arena rock, pop-rock and new wave (including synth-pop and post-punk).

In other words, artists such as Genesis, Camel, King Crimson, Yes, Renaissance and Rush gradually abandoned the complexities and ambitious scopes of their initial LPs for simpler and more radio-friendly hits. To many diehard prog rock fans (me included), this resulted in little more than said artists “selling out” to achieve mainstream success with low-effort superficiality.

That said, there was still some great stuff to be had amongst the rubbish, which is why we’re now looking at the best and worst synth-era albums from five classic prog rock bands!

READ MORE: 11 Best Debut Prog Rock Albums of All Time

When people talk about the synth era of the genre, they typically restrict themselves to what came out in the 1980s. However, most of these groups started their modifications bit earlier and/or lasted for a bit longer, so we’re broadening our range to include anything from the late ‘70s to the early ‘90s that might fit. Consequently, we’re also not limiting ourselves to exploring only albums that have no traces of prog rock. If there’s at least a substantial air of the artist’s forthcoming synth-era in the collection, it can count.

Oh, and just because an album is considered the “worst” doesn’t mean it’s outright bad (although some of them definitely are). Like mediocre pizza, it could be decent but just not as good as the others you’re comparing it to.

In any case, we’d love to know what you think of our picks once you’ve had a chance to dig through them, so let us know which records – if any – you’d replace!