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I am very much a fan of the 'old school' progressive rock - that is, English prog rock bands from ca. 1968 to the mid-1970s.

There are a handful of such bands which I particularly like and listen to regularly (and as a musician often cite as leading influences!)

In no particular order...

YES - guitarist Steve Howe is a major influence of mine. He really helped create the 'classic' Yes sound. A brilliant virtuoso guitarist who is able to draw on a range of musical styles including jazz, classical, country as well and rock and blues.

Original drummer, Bill Bruford, is/was also a very important 'sound shaping' member of this band. One can't mention Yes without mentioning Chris Squire - the only member to appear on every Yes album; and Jon Anderson, whose often angelic, sometimes annoying vocals, give Yes their distinctive sound.

What about the keyboardists? Rick Wakeman? - He's all curries and capes!

I am particularly fond of the Peter Banks era Yes (the first two albums) - but the 'best' Yes would be THE YES ALBUM, FRAGILE and CLOSE TO THE EDGE. Dedicated listeners might want to have a go at RELAYER and TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS.

After RELAYER the band split up or 'rested' for a while. I don't think they were ever the same band again after that though. They were still able to create some brilliant music - but the good times had long gone.

A good compilation album to introduce someone to the 'classic' Yes, is the album of that name - CLASSIC YES.

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King Crimson - anything with Robert Fripp is interesting. This man is a genius, a mad scientist on guitar. He is totally the opposite of what just about every wanna-be guitarist / guitar hero aspires to be. He is the guitar anti-hero. He is so bloody brilliant!

King Crimson is one of my all time favourite bands. I should say it is at least three of my all time favourite bands! King Crimson had about 13 different line ups during the initial 1969-1975 period; then the various line ups post 1980.

In my opinion the best Crimson in chronological order are the original 1969 line up - as featured on their debut album IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING; after a lot of widdling about with line up changes and some average musicians, they got their acto together when Bill Bruford joined and produced 3 brilliant albums - LARKS TONGUES IN ASPIC, STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK, and RED. (It is interesting to note that YES went downhill after Bruford left, Crimson improved when he joined!) Then there is the 1980s King Crimson - almost a different

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