Psychedelia & Prog
Rock expands its mind and its ambitions: Hendrix, the Doors, Pink Floyd, the concept album and the long, strange trip of progressive rock.
Part of Rock
31 moments in this segment.
- — Jefferson Airplane — White Rabbit. Grace Slick's 1967 anthem became psychedelia's calling card.
- — Jimi Hendrix — Purple Haze. Hendrix's 1967 single rewired what an electric guitar could do.
- — The Doors — Light My Fire. The Doors' 1967 breakthrough married rock, jazz and Jim Morrison's dark poetry.
- — Hendrix burns his guitar at Monterey. Hendrix set his Stratocaster alight at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.
- — Pink Floyd — The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd defined British psychedelia in 1967.
- — Cream — Sunshine of Your Love. Clapton, Bruce and Baker's power trio pushed blues-rock toward heavy in 1967.
- — Janis Joplin — Piece of My Heart. Janis Joplin brought raw blues power to the psychedelic era with Big Brother.
- — Jimi Hendrix — Voodoo Child (Slight Return). From Electric Ladyland, Hendrix's guitar reached its outer limits in 1968.
- — David Bowie — Space Oddity. Bowie's 1969 breakthrough launched one of rock's greatest careers.
- — Santana — Soul Sacrifice. Santana's blazing Woodstock set fused Latin rhythm and psychedelic rock.
- — King Crimson — In the Court of the Crimson King. The 1969 album widely credited with launching progressive rock.
- — The Grateful Dead. The Dead built a whole improvisational world and the template for the jam band.
- — Can and krautrock. Germany's Can, Neu! and Kraftwerk built a hypnotic, motorik rock that shaped decades to come.
- — Emerson, Lake & Palmer. ELP's keyboard-driven bombast defined prog's virtuoso wing.
- — Jethro Tull — Aqualung. Jethro Tull's flute-led hard prog gave 1971 one of its defining albums.
- — T. Rex — Get It On. Marc Bolan's T. Rex kicked off the glam-rock era in 1971.
- — Yes — Roundabout. Yes brought virtuosity and epic ambition to prog with Roundabout in 1971.
- — David Bowie — Ziggy Stardust. Bowie's 1972 alien rock star invented glam and changed rock's relationship with identity.
- — Mott the Hoople — All the Young Dudes. Bowie's gift to Mott the Hoople became glam's great anthem.
- — Roxy Music — Virginia Plain. Roxy Music and Brian Eno brought art-rock sophistication to glam.
- — Genesis — Watcher of the Skies. Peter Gabriel-era Genesis pushed theatrical prog to new heights.
- — Lou Reed — Walk on the Wild Side. Lou Reed's 1972 solo hit brought the Velvet Underground's edge to the charts.
- — Pink Floyd — The Dark Side of the Moon. The 1973 album, one of the best-selling of all time, is prog's crowning achievement.
- — Neu! and the motorik pulse. Neu!'s hypnotic 'motorik' beat shaped post-punk, ambient and beyond.
- — Frank Zappa. Zappa's genre-shredding invention made him rock's great iconoclast.
- — Tangerine Dream. Germany's Tangerine Dream turned synthesizers into vast sonic landscapes.
- — Kraftwerk — Autobahn. Germany's Kraftwerk turned the motorik pulse into the future of electronic music.
- — Genesis — The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Peter Gabriel's theatrical 1974 concept album pushed prog to its limits.
- — Pink Floyd — Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Floyd's 1975 tribute to Syd Barrett is prog's most moving statement.
- — Rush — 2112. Canada's Rush made prog's ambition muscular and enduring with 2112.
- — Pink Floyd — Another Brick in the Wall. Floyd's 1979 rock opera The Wall closed the prog era with a number one.
