Timeline of progressive rock

This is an introductory page to timelines of artists, albums, and events in progressive rock and its subgenres. While this page shows the formation of significant bands in the genre, the detailed timeline is presented in separate articles for each decade.

Timeline by decade

Click on the header for each decade to see the detailed timeline.

1960s

Newly formed bands

• Phoenix (1962)
• Sfinx (1962)
• Omega (1962)
• Los Jaivas (1963)
• The Moody Blues (1964)
• Strawbs (1964)
• Pink Floyd (1965)
• Barclay James Harvest (1966)
• Soft Machine (1966)
• Aphrodite's Child (1967)
• Genesis (1967)
• Gong (1967)
• Jethro Tull (1967)
• Mike Oldfield (1967)
• The Nice (1967)
• Van der Graaf Generator (1967)
• Can (1968)
• Caravan (1968)
• Deep Purple (1968)
• King Crimson (1968)
• Krokodil (1968)
• Rush (1968)
• Yes (1968)
• Ange (1969)
• Argent (1969)
• Atomic Rooster (1969)
• Curved Air (1969)
• Banco del Mutuo Soccorso (1969)
• Beggar's Opera (1969)
• Magma (1969)
• Renaissance(1969)
• Supertramp (1969)
• Congreso (1969)
• Nektar (1969)
• Quintessence (1969)
• Hawkwind (1969)
• Warm Dust (1969)

1970s

Newly formed bands

• Dixie Dregs (1970)
• Electric Light Orchestra (1970)
• Emerson, Lake and Palmer (1970)
• Gentle Giant (1970)
• Queen (1970)
• Styx (1970)
• Alphataurus (1971)
• Captain Beyond (1971)
• Kansas (1971)
• Celeste (1972)
• Premiata Forneria Marconi (1972)
• Kaipa (1973)
• Bijelo Dugme (1974)
• Machiavel (1974)
• Ambrosia (band) (1975)
• England (1975)
• The Alan Parsons Project (1976)
• Peter Gabriel (1976)
• Cardiacs (1977)
• Crack (1977)
• Saga (1977)
• U.K. (1977)
• Pendragon (1978)
• King's X (1979)
• Marillion (1979)

1980s

Newly formed bands

• IQ (1980)
• Asia (1981)
• Queensrÿche (1982)
• Fates Warning (1983)
• Ozric Tentacles (1983)
• Pain of Salvation (1984)
• Fulano (1984)
• Dream Theater (1985)
• Galahad (1985)
• Shadow Gallery (1985)
• The Bleeding Heart Band (1986)
• Dreamscape (1986)
• Cynic (1987)
• Meshuggah (1987)
• No-Man (1987)
• Porcupine Tree (1987)
• Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (1988)
• Psychotic Waltz (1988)
• Echolyn (1989)
• Enchant (1989)

1990s

Newly formed bands

• Anathema (1990)
• Big Big Train (1990)
• Opeth (1990)
• Tool (1990)
• Ulysses (1990)
• Anekdoten (1991)
• Änglagård (1991)
• Glass Hammer (1992)
• Spock's Beard (1992)
• Ayreon (1993)
• The Flower Kings (1993)
• Guapo (1994)
• Muse (1994)
• Symphony X (1994)
• Arena (1995)
• Coheed and Cambria (1995)
• Mew (1995)
• Sylvan (1995)
• Devin Townsend (1996)
• Evergrey (1996)
• Gazpacho (1996)
• maudlin of the Well (1996)
• Liquid Tension Experiment (1997)
• Karnivool (1997)
• RPWL (1997)
• Oceansize (1998)
• MullMuzzler (1999)
• Neal Morse (1999)
• The Pineapple Thief (1999)
• Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (1999)
• Transatlantic (1999)
• Wobbler (1999)

2000s

Newly formed bands

• Between the Buried and Me (2000)
• Mastodon (2000)
• Seventh Wonder (2000)
• MediaBanda (2000)
• Beardfish (2001)
• Leprous (2001)
• The Mars Volta (2001)
• Riverside (2001)
• Karmakanic (2002)
• Phideaux (2002)
• The Tangent (2002)
• Born of Osiris (2003)
• Kayo Dot (2003)
• Moon Safari (2003)
• Pure Reason Revolution (2003)
• Architects (2004)
• Frost* (2004)
• Soen (2004)
• The Dear Hunter (2005)
• Periphery (2005)
• Jolly (2006)
• Animals as Leaders (2007)
• Haken (2007)
• Flying Colors (2008)
• Steven Wilson (2008)
• Bent Knee (2009)
• Django Django (2009)
• Thank You Scientist (2009)

2010s

Newly formed bands

• Iamthemorning (2010)
• King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (2010)
• Polyphia (2010)
• Seven Impale (2010)
• The Aristocrats (2011)
• Caligula's Horse (2011)
• Kyros (2012)
• Astronoid (2012)
• The Neal Morse Band (2013)
• Southern Empire (2015)
• Novena (2016)
• This Winter Machine (2016)
• The Sea Within (2017)
• Sons of Apollo (2017)
• Black Midi (2017)

See also

• Timeline of progressive rock: 1960s - 1970s - 1980s - 1990s - 2000s - 2010s - 2020s
• Progressive rock
• Canterbury Scene
• Symphonic rock
• Avant-rock
• Rock in Opposition
• Neo-prog
• Progressive metal
• Jazz fusion
• Djent

Further reading

• Snider, Charles. The Strawberry Bricks Guide To Progressive Rock. Chicago, Ill.: Lulu Publishing (2008) 364 pages, ISBN   978-0-615-17566-9 (paperback). A veritable record guide to progressive rock, with band histories, musical synopses and critical commentary, all presented in the historical context of a timeline. The book covers only 1967–1979.
• Lucky, Jerry. The Progressive Rock Files Burlington, Ontario: Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc (1998), 304 pages, ISBN   1-896522-10-6 (paperback). Gives an overview of progressive rock's history as well as histories of the major and underground bands in the genre.
• Macan, Edward. Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1997), 290 pages, ISBN   0-19-509887-0 (hardcover), ISBN   0-19-509888-9 (paperback). Analyzes progressive rock using classical musicology and also sociology.