@samvarma
I'll follow up with another oddball pick. I was that one kid in school who didn't much care for Yes's "breakthrough" 90125—Yesssongs or go home, right?—although a few bits have grown on me. But for some reason I really liked this Yes lineup that was half Yes, all of the Buggles (really!), and sparked off Asia (think Yes sounding like Journey), Rabin-era Yes (think Yes sounding like Journey and Art of Noise), GTR (think Marillion sounding like Journey) and cemented Steve Howe in my mind. I mean, he was already cemented there but this added more superglue.

@geoffduncan @samvarma I saw GTR when they came thru SF Bay Area in 1986, playing the Warfield. Good friend of mine was a HUGE prog fan so this was Rock Royalty but I don’t remember any of it, sorry man! Too young for that to stick.

@NigelTufnel @geoffduncan Dream Theater was my biggest foray into prog, I remember seeing them live for the first time in Munich and being like holy shit it sounds just like the record, then seeing them again six months later in London at the Astoria, and being like yeah holy shit still sounds just like the record, and then again maybe a year later in Los Angeles at the house of blues. (1/2)

And I was like yo this is just boring, it sounds just like the album. The coolest thing that happened was Derek Sherinian strapped on a Les Paul with a shiny silver shirt on for a cover of some 70s rock. The bloom was off the rose after that. (2/2)
@NigelTufnel @geoffduncan