4) Emerson Lake and Palmer

Throughout rock history we have seen many super groups come and go, and typically what begins with high expectations ends in miserable failure. Sometimes due to each members large ego which causes destruction or even a clash of ideas. ELP is one of the few unique supergroups that found overwhelming success, to the likes that no member of the band had previously seen. The band was comprised of singer/bassist Greg Lake of King Crimson, keyboardist Keith Emerson of The Nice, and drummer Carl Palmer of the Crazy World of Arthur. Elp's self titled debut found itself near the top of both American and English charts thanks to the hit single "Lucky Man." Their next album stands as one of the true prog masterpieces of history, that album being "Tarkus" filled with long and avant-garde pieces which absolutely define what prog rock is all about. Two albums later ELP would go on to release "Brain Salad Surgery" an album which is arguably their most notable containing the bombastic hit "Karn Evil 9." The bands members following "Brain Salad Surgery" quickly became weary of each others presence which would lead to a number of sub-par albums. Throughout ELP's tenure the band found their own fair share of critics which shot them down for being overly pretentious like many other prog rock bands of the time. Their music certainly was grandiose and over the top, they would frequently find themselves being linked with classical music and often were labeled as a classical prog band due to their relations to the classical genre, for instance ELP had a cover of Copeland's "Hoedown." ELP's extraordinarily complex and innovative music was crucial for laying down the foundation for so many prog bands to follow, while only having a few truly solid studio albums, each one should be placed on top of a progressive pedestal.

Essential Albums: "Brain Salad Surgery" and "Tarkus"