The Forgotten Psychedelic Rock Bands That Were Just as Good as Pink Floyd

When it comes to psychedelic rock, most people think of bands like Pink Floyd and Jefferson Airplane. But what about the unsung heroes of the genre who deserved to be more famous than they were?

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Keep in mind that if you’re a diehard psych-rock fan, these bands are probably far from forgotten. But to the average listener, they might not be the most well-known bands that come to mind in psych-rock as a genre. Let’s take a look!

1. Spirit

There have been numerous eras of psychedelia, and prog-rock outfit Spirit produced some of the very best music at the tail end of the original era’s lifespan. 

Spirit was more than just as good as Pink Floyd; they were in a category of their very own. The band was incredibly creative and had no qualms with experimenting with jazz, pop, and even proto-metal at times. Twelve Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus from 1970 is essential listening.

2. The 13th Floor Elevators

This would not be a decent list of psych-rock bands that were just as good as Pink Floyd without bringing up The 13th Floor Elevators. 

Formed by Roky Erickson, this little outfit had all of the strange elements you’d expect from a next-level psychedelic rock band from the 60s: an electric jug player, acid rock elements, and reverence as proto-punk icons among modern-day punks. The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators from 1966 is essential listening.

3. Country Joe And The Fish

Country Joe And The Fish were memorable from the get-go with their debut album in 1967. They are, in their purest form, psychedelic rock. They’re also so much more. 

The band featured elements of acid rock and folk rock and weren’t afraid to get weird with free-form poetry and political jabs. Electric Music For The Mind And Body is, in our opinion, essential listening from the Summer of Love in 1967.

4. The Zombies

It took literal decades for The Zombies to get the love they deserved; they were just so ahead of their time. The band evolved from rhythm and blues to pure, unabashed psychedelic rock in the late 1960s, and they only had one hit song to their name: “Time Of The Season”. 

The Zombies were a lot cleaner and more polished compared to their psych-rock contemporaries, but they were an amazing proto-prog outfit nonetheless. The 1968 record Odessey & Oracle is essential listening.

5. The Dukes Of Stratosphear

Not many would agree that The Dukes Of Stratosphear were “just as good” as Pink Floyd. They came from completely different eras and sound completely different from each other, with psych-rock elements being their only tether to one another. 

Still, we think they’re worth mentioning, considering our list has been packed with 1960s and 1970s psych-rock outfits exclusively. Their 1985 album 25 O’Clock is essential listening and also a fun, almost sweet homage to the early iterations of psych-rock and the bands that came before them.

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