War Child was nearly an orphan. Originally meant as a soundtrack to a film (something about a child's adventures in the afterlife), Ian Anderson's unwillingness to relinquish artistic control killed the project. Jethro Tull recovered, and instead put together a collection of (previously written) songs, giving it the distinction of being their first album since Benefit to avoid an epic construct. The album though is rich in arrangement, with David Palmer's orchestrations playing a central role.

Franco Battiato's next two recordings saw his music take another step towards the avant-garde. Combining synthesizers, piano, electronics, voices and tapes into a musique concrete of effortless, hypnotic music, Sulle Corde di Aries was released in 1973. "Sequenze e Frequenze" covered the first side, while three shorter tracks filled the second; here, Battiato opted for an eastern flavor, combining electronics and acoustic tabla, with his layered voice providing the magnetic icing. Clic followed the next year, again for the Bla Bla label.

Hailing from the Netherlands, Trace featured the talents of two (cousins) van der Lindens. Rick, the classically-trained keyboard player, cut his teeth with classical performance before leading Ekseption (sic) for nearly five years. That band found considerable success by rocking up classical adaptations and jazz standards, though they offered little more than novelty. And yet, this would become the popular Dutch variant of prog rock. Drummer Pierre had been in several Dutch groups, including Brainbox and Focus. In 1974, the pair joined up with bassist Jaap van Eik to form Trace.

Founded in 1969 by Rick Davies, Supertramp initially had the luxury of being funded by a Dutch millionaire, Stanley August Miesegaes. Davies teamed with Rodger Hodgson and recorded two albums, the first of which was an interesting progressive record, reminiscent of Genesis or Caravan in places; the second was known for its cover. But by 1972, they had run out of favor with both their benefactor and their record label. The pair eventually assembled another lineup and set to record their breakthrough album, Crime Of The Century.

Robert Wyatt spent the beginning of 1973 in Venice, idling his time and writing the songs that would eventually comprise his second solo record. Upon returning to England, the spring saw Wyatt playing in WMMW- with saxophonist Gary Windo, keyboardist David MacRae and bassist Ron Mathewson. He then attempted to revive Matching Mole one final time, with Windo, Curved Air's Francis Monkman and a returning Bill MacCormick. In June, however, at a party for Lady June and Gilli Smyth, an inebriated Wyatt fell from a fourth-story window.

With the Theusz Hamtaahk trilogy complete, Christian Vander here offers the second part of a new trilogy, Köhntarkösz. Once again filled with Magma's dramatic music, the album Köhntarkösz is mostly comprised of the two parts of its title track. "Part One" is built around a relatively simple refrain, pounded into several mutations over the course of the album side. Much of Magma's sonic enormity from the previous record is replaced with sparser musical arrangements and a great use of space.

In early 1974, Rick Wakeman took a break with Yes to complete the even more ambitious Journey To The Centre Of The Earth with the London Symphony Orchestra. Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall on January 18th, 1974 with full choir, narrator David Hemmings and Wakeman's own English Rock Ensemble, his interpretation of Jules Verne's classic tale had little to do with prog rock, let alone rock music. That hardly mattered: By the time the keyboardist announced his departure from Yes, the album was a UK No. 1 and US No. 3, and even earned himself a Grammy Award nomination.

At the end of 1973, Pierre van der Linden left Focus to form Trace with Rick van der Linden from Ekseption; British drummer Colin Allen, previously with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Stone The Crows, was flown in as a replacement. Although it had been over two years since the band's last album, Hamburger Concerto again offers another installment of classic Focus music. The brief "Delitiae Musicae" opens, confirming both Thijs van Leer and Jan Akkerman's love of classical music—something they also pursued in contemporaneous solo works.

Despite being relative latecomers to the scene, Camel eventually earned a considerable reputation as a progressive rock band. Their modest commercial success kept the band busy, but just outside of the big league. Hailing from Surrey, guitarist Andy Latimer formed The Brew in the late 60s. Bassist Doug Ferguson brought in drummer Andy Ward and the band landed a gig in 1971 backing singer-songwriter Phillip Goodhand-Tait. However, this proved unsatisfactory; so in a bid to make it on their own, the band secured the services of Pete Bardens on organ from a Melody Maker advertisement.

The roots of Hatfield and the North go back to the Miller brothers-guitarist Phil and keyboardist Steve-and the final days of Delivery in mid-1972. In early 1973, keyboard player and Dave Stewart replaced Steve, joining the core of Phil, bassist Richard Sinclair (ex-Caravan) and drummer Pip Pyle (ex-Gong). Stewart had previously been in Egg and replaced keyboard player Dave Sinclair, who returned to Caravan. The band spent most of 1973 touring, including several visits to the Continent.