Battle of the classic prog rock keyboard players

[KevShmev]

I think it goes without saying that these four guys are giants of the rock keyboard playing in the 70s, but which two are your favorites? 

Narrowing it down first, even though he was awesome, Wakeman is easily my least favorite of the four.  This is not an indictment of him, so much as it is a testament to how awesome the other three were.

Now, as for the others, picking two of them and eliminating one is extremely difficult for me.  Ultimately though, I will take Emerson and Banks, in large part because their playing is my favorite part of their respective classic bands, while Wright's playing - always fantastic, creative and more innovative than he is often given credit for - had to contend with Gilmour's playing and Waters' concepts/lyrics.  But it was close.

[Lolzeez]

Wakeman and Banks.

[The Letter M]

Wakeman and Banks.

Wanks

As great as Emerson is, Banks' compositional skills and Wakeman's use of sounds really put them above Emerson's insane keyboard chops.

-Marc.

[Lolzeez]

Wakeman and Banks.

Wanks
-Marc.

[Elite]

My namesakes.

[Orbert]

Tony Banks is easily my Number 1.  He doesn't have the ridiculous technical chops of either Wakeman or Emerson, but he also never, ever overplays.  He considers what's best for the song or instrumental 100% of the time, and has the best feel for overall composition and orchestration of the bunch.  He's gone on to create soundtracks and two albums of great modern orchestral music using those skills, something none of the others has done.

Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson constantly fight it out for Number 2 for me.  Both have great chops, both in their prime (the 70's and somewhat into the 80's) had great musicality and a great choices in synth patches, but both have the tendency to overplay sometimes, putting the individual ahead of the ensemble.  To be fair, that was part of the way their respective bands (ELP and Yes) worked.  My second vote went to Emerson for having somewhat more restraint that Wakeman.  Wakeman has a huge body of work (look up his discography some time) but a lot of it is complete shit, and he'll be the first to admit it.  I haven't heard anything from him in over 10 years, and very little in the past 20, that has impressed me.  Emerson at least knows when to stop.

Rick Wright is so often overlooked, so underrated, that I almost gave him a pity vote.  I loved his work with Pink Floyd, and I enjoyed his solo albums as well.  As a pure synthesist, he might be the best of the bunch.  But he had a lack of technical chops, compositional skill, and overall body of work all working against him.

[SomeoneLikeHim]

Tony Banks = God of the chord progression

[ColdFireYYZ]

I can't decide between Wakeman and Emerson. Banks is also great, while Wright is my least favorite of the 4 (even though I absolutely love his playing). I think I'll go with Wakeman on this one, but its tough.

And I just realized that I can pick 2. So Wakeman and Emerson it is.

[Man-Erg]

Kerry Minnear.

From the list, Wright.

[Jaq]

Banks and Emerson. For opposing reasons. Banks because no one in prog better played what the song needed, Emerson because no one was better at overplaying, which is precisely what their respective bands needed.

[Orbert]

Kerry Minnear.

I was trying to think of what great prog keyboard players were missing from the list, and came up empty.  I can believe I forget about Kerry.  Probably because Gentle Giant was much less known than the other respective bands.  But Kerry was/is awesome, and also had a sweet voice.  I think Rick Wright is the only one listed who can sing at all.

[Pols Voice]

Banks and Wakeman.

Kerry Minnear is a good honorable mention.

[hefdaddy42]

Wakeman and Wright for me.

[Unlegit]

Tony Banks and Rick Wakeman. Richard Wright is a very close 3rd.

[Perpetual Change]

Wakeman is the man. None of the other guys have anywhere near the same depth of quality work, with their respective bands, or in terms of solo stuff.

[Orbert]

Wakeman has a huge body of work, but let's face it, most of his solo stuff is crap.  He made some great stuff in the 70's, but they all did.  I'm not seeing this "depth of quality work" you're hinting at.

I'm a huge Wakeman fan, by the way.  I just have to be realistic.  He's got a couple of good tricks and he uses them over and over.

[black_biff_stadler]

Wakeman and Wright for me.

This. Tony Banks couldn't even pull the Rams out of their mid-90s swoon.

[Nekov]

Keith Emerson. The guy not only played fantastically well but also put on shows on stage like no one else- He was very good in transforming pieces of classical music into prog rock.

[Zydar]

Wakeman and Banks.

[Perpetual Change]

Wakeman has a huge body of work, but let's face it, most of his solo stuff is crap.  He made some great stuff in the 70's, but they all did.  I'm not seeing this "depth of quality work" you're hinting at.

I'm a huge Wakeman fan, by the way.  I just have to be realistic.  He's got a couple of good tricks and he uses them over and over.

I've honestly skimmed over most of it, but what I have heard is great. Six Wives is classic. The Living Tree album he did a few years ago with Jon Anderson is amazing, too.

[skydivingninja]

Wright
Wakeman/Banks







Emerson

[Mladen]

Wakeman and Wright for me.

Same here.

[DebraKadabra]

Banks and Wright for me.  Yeah, yeah... I know Wakeman and Emerson were more revered for their time but... their low points were MUCH lower than Banks's and Wright's IMO.

[Sketchy]

Banks and Wright. I love the sounds and orchestrations that they made with their keyboards, and also how much more textural they were.

[JayOctavarium]

Wright
Emerson




Go ahead and suck on that pipe folks