In fact, now that I think on it, the first ELP record was mighty damn good. That, Tarkus and Trilogy were fabulous. For all its fame, I think BSS is where the rot set in.
I am seriously hard pressed to think of another prog band to score a classic on the first album. Not Focus… not Gentle Giant… not Camel or Kansas… not Yes, Tull, Floyd, Tull, Genesis… wow
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That’s my view.
Second Albums
Trespass by Genesis - referenced due to it being special as Ant Phillips last album and a huge departure from the first album, and it is where some of the Genesis pastoral whimsy is used to great effect
Fly by Night by Rush - an absolute quantum leap in style and the drumming dept.
Third albums
With Yes it was the Yes Album, the first two are “meh” to my ears, but you could sense the direction.
With Pink Floyd for me it was half of Meddle (Echoes, One of These Days, A Pillow of Winds) which set the direction of travel towards the dark side. I like some of the Barrett era stuff, but not all of it
I’d also sneak Nursery Cryme by Genesis here, despite having called out Trespass, as this is where they really found themselves with their new personnel…
I will also be controversial and say that as famous as Tubular Bells is, I think Mike Oldfield totally knocked it out of the park with Ommadawn - another third album masterpiece.
The thing is back in those days the record companies gave the bands time to develop.
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Agree on all counts. And Kansas did 3 good but uneven albums before nailing it with Leftoverture. Supertramp, let’s call them a prog adjacent band, scored on album 3 with Crime of the Century… King Crimson is controversial, a lot of people think the first album is a masterpiece and I like it but for me they really hit their stride with Lark’s Tongue, album what? 4?
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Lark’s Tongue was 5. Two amazing 1st albums from prog bands (though I guess they could be called Neo Prog: Marillion (Script For A Jester’s Tear) and IQ (Tales From the Lush Attic).
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I’ll be controversial and say I do not think Marillion hit their stride until “Season’s End” 
I am more of a H era than Fish era.
I love IQ but, again, it’s a much later album that starts tickling my fancy “Subterranea”, which I htink was album 5
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In my very short lived prog band called “Echoes” in 2006 we did “I know what I like”, “Here Comes the Flood” (the stripped back version) and “Games Without Frontiers” amongst other things. I really loved playing those as a huge Genesis fan.
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I think l listened to Misplaced Childhood until the tape was no longer magnetic. Six of One and The Thieving Magpie (LIVE) were also to Marillion faves.
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In your version of Here Comes The Flood what instruments were used? Just curious ..
Hi, @dave_dore
Just my trusty old Yamaha EX5 (which was my main keyboard to 2017) to provide the piano. We had a singer, Ben, who had a cracking voice, and he really did it justice.
Peter Gabriel more often than not does this as a stripped back version.
I think it was this recording or something similar we used as the guide
And some examples of Gabriel himself live just playing CP80 / Piano
I love the build up of the studio version, but also this stripped back version works as well, as any good song should.
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