Reddit reviews Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal
We found 3 Reddit comments about Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
http://www.amazon.com/Mean-Deviation-Decades-Progressive-Heavy/dp/0979616336/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343346359&sr=8-1&keywords=mean+deviation
This book might interest you. It'll answer your question pretty thoroughly.
Also I know you're saying Rush is "just prog," but as the book says Rush was a massive influence on the first wave of prog metal, and is cited by most if not all the starting bands as an influence.
Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal
Swedish Death Metal
That's a nice list, I need to bookmark it. I also recommend reading Mean Deviation, for an interesting, a bit different take on the history of progmetal.