The 500 Best Prog Albums - Ever!

[Trollheart]

Agree fully, but they seem to extend the definition of the genre to often crazy lengths. I mean, look at what they have AT THE TOP for 1991: Death's Human! I mean, progressive? Laugh? I nearly listened to Emerson, Lake and Palmer! 

[Toy Revolver]

Agree fully, but they seem to extend the definition of the genre to often crazy lengths. I mean, look at what they have AT THE TOP for 1991: Death's Human! I mean, progressive? Laugh? I nearly listened to Emerson, Lake and Palmer! 

all that technical metal stuff is in the ballpark though with swift and abrupt changes and crazy time signatures and all that

[Trollheart]

Yeah I know. Just for me "it's prog, Jim, but not as we know it." 

[Trollheart]

Album title: Le mariage du ciel et de l'enfer
Artist: Art Zoyd
Nationality: French
Sub-genre: RIO/Avant-Prog
Year: 1985
Position on list for that year: 7
Chronology: 6 of 21
Familiarity with artist: 1
Familiarity with album: 1
Gold Rated track(s): None (and it's not that they're not good, just it's hard to differentiate, like with the Eno album)
Silver Rated track(s): None
Wooden Rated track(s): None
Comments: Well things just keep getting better and better for me, don't they? Whose idea was it to jump a spot ahead each year? I could have been listening to Marillion in 1983 instead of bloody Zeuhl, and this year I've missed out on Supertramp, IQ, Kate Bush and - oh, look! Marillion again. Who happen to top the 1985 chart. Oh well, I will get to them. But right now I'm saddled with a RIO album. And before anyone asks is that anything to do with Duran Duran, or indeed Brazil, no it is not: RIO, for those who don't know, stands for Rock In Opposition, an organisation dedicated to doing everything differently and as weirdly as possible, basically. Sounds like fun. AND this one is French too. AND written for a ballet. Can someone get me out of here?

No? All right then, I guess there's nothing to do but listen to this and see what it's like. Very oddly, the vinyl version only has five tracks, while the CD has nine, adding about twenty minutes on to the runtime. Which I'll listen to depends I guess on what YouTube decides to give me. Looks like I got the CD version, oh what a surprise. So we have booming thunder effects then an urgent piano followed by dark organ maybe, building up to a dramatic opening as the album begins, the first track running for eleven minutes. Slowing down now in a very doomy vein and some brass coming in. I will say that went in relatively quickly and I don't find it too avant-garde. The second track is longer, over eighteen minutes, somewhat more in the cinematic line, with a lot of hollow drumming and ticking and some effects. The next three tracks are all relatively short, and seem to be variations on the same basic melody, which gets very tiresome.

The next one is a nice little piano melody, with a sort of dissonant feel to it, but overall I wouldn't consider this too much outside my wheelhouse; certainly no Fantomas or John Zorn anyway. Not quite sure how these guys are "rocking in opposition", but this far it's certainly more than tolerable and nowhere near as weird or out-there as I had anticipated. There's a kind of neoclassical idea in the next one, lots of brass, strings, powerful percussion, and a lot of screaming shouting and muttering on the longest track, which runs for over fourteen minutes, but overall I'd say this is okay to listen to, hard to review, but not as beyond the pale as I expected it to be. Yes, it's probably a mild form of RIO, if indeed it even is that sub-genre, but if it is any sort of RIO at all, it's a reasonably gentle introduction into this sort of music. I certainly enjoyed this a lot more than I had thought I would.

Personal Rating: 7

[Toy Revolver]

adding about twenty minutes on to the runtime

i hate that - bonus material should be offered separately- it always makes listening to a record start to finish worse - even if the extra material is good

[Toy Revolver]

That's not how it works. I choose the top ten album from 1972, top nine album from 1973, top eight album from 1974 and so on. Right now I've reached 1990. Once I get to 2022 I'll be going back to 1972 for the top nine album but that means we don't see a seventies album again once we exit 1979 until we've gone all the way to last year.

Anyway, on we go.

With a 70s album.   

And so to 1974, where I'm somewhat depressed to find this at number 8.



Album title: Rock Bottom
Artist: Robert Wyatt
Nationality: English
Sub-genre: Canterbury Scene
Year: 1974
Position on list for that year: 8
Chronology: 2 of 11
Familiarity with artist: 3
Familiarity with album: 2
Gold Rated track(s): Alifib
Silver Rated track(s): None
Wooden Rated track(s): Sea Song, Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road, Alife, Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road
Comments: I've heard, in the course of my History of Prog journal, two of Wyatt's albums. I do not recall enjoying either. Given that he's one of the leading lights behind Soft Machine, and my opinion of their first four or five albums, that's not entirely surprising. It's a bit off-putting that I'm faced with another CS album so soon, but then, this is the list and it's not like other projects where I randomly choose and can - if I wish (ssshh!) - cheat. Here, there is nowhere to hide, and what's on the list is what I have to listen to and review. And so, by that measure, I have to listen to and review this.

But I don't have to like it.

And I doubt I will.

Nice slow little Beatles-like opener anyway, very lazy and sort of swaying along, then the piano gets a bit discordant and the vocal when it comes in is a little weak at first, but then gets stronger and reminds me of early Divine Comedy yes I know. Well there are only six tracks on this, and none are epics so maybe it won't be so bad. Another forty-minute album: don't these people know what prog is? Well anyway this is called "Sea Song" and it soon gets really annoying with all the atonal stuff and some sort of clarinet or something going in the background, or maybe it's flute. The choral vocals (probably a Prophet; were they around in 1974?) adds something to the song, but it's not one I can say I like, not at all. The title track is a little better but I just don't like the guy's style at all. I don't know what it is about him; maybe it's the way the music keeps going sort of out of tune, which I'm sure is intentional but certainly is annoying to me, or maybe it's his habit of vocalise all the time, like scat singing. I mean, can he not sing lyrics?

We get all free jazz and improvisational then (how I hate that) in "Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road", and sadly Mr. Wyatt did not follow her example; there's another track almost titled the same, and if it's like this I'll be banging my head against the wall. And it runs for like seven minutes. Mostly it appears to be instrumental, in fact it may be so all the way through: I'm on about minute three and there's only been that vocalise so far, and little of that (though not little enough) and as for the taped speech/masking/whatever the hell it is: enough, really now. Enough. And next up is "Alifib", whatever that means: Wyatt seems to enjoy a fair bit of the old wordplay, as evidenced by the two albums that bookend this, his debut End of an Ear and the next one, Ruth is Stranger Than Richard. Yeah, very clever, but clever titles don't make great albums, and for me, this is not a great album. Not so far anyway.

At least this track is more restrained, a nice smooth guitar line against some synthy keyboard giving quite a relaxed feel, just the thing after the last freeform-fest. Melody sounds very similar, as if it's some folk or traditional song or something. Maybe it's just me. Miles better than anything on this album so far anyway. Runs directly into "Alife" (which I had incorrectly read as "Alfie") as we get a squeaky sound against a spectral, haunting keyboard line and some sort of basic vocal almost spoken rather than sung. Back to the poor quality, at least for me, we go. Sigh. Oh well. Only one more track to go and I'll be done with this. Oh that squeaky sound is a clarinet I think, though it sounds as if he's having a conversation with a very irate goose or hen. I know how it feels. Clarinets played by the hilariously-appropriately-named Gary Windo!

Oh look! Album is produced by Nick Mason. I wonder is that the Nick Mason? Surely it is. And this track is sung (!) by another guy, not Wyatt. I still don't care. I hate this. Okay I don't hate it, that's not fair. But I really dislike and have no interest in it. And here's the other song like "Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road", though this time it's, um, "Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road". Right. Seems a bit better musically, not that that would be hard. Yeah but then it goes into feedback and some sort of repeated line in the vocal which just grates and grates till I want to turn this FUCKING ALBUM OFF! Even the great Mike Oldfield lending a hand on guitar here can't pull this out of the mire it's stuck in. Oh, and now there's someone speaking in what sounds like an exaggerated Scottish accent against what might be accordion or bassoon or some damn thing. Hey, I was right: I didn't like it.

Personal Rating: 3

A breathtakingly well-written negative review of one of my top ten favorite albums of all time!  
Seriously, though, not surprised that you hate it, given your dislike of free jazz in particular.
But "Sea Song" is one of my favorite songs ever!  Definitely in my top five.  So there! 

i just finished my first listen amd it seems like the type of record that would take multiple listens to appreciate but i enjoyed it - i hate having big holes in my music knowledge but this is a work still in progress

[Trollheart]

That's cool. I'm certainly not arrogant or narissistic enough (yet) to expect everyone to agree with my opinions and share my reaction to albums. By all accounts this is a very highly-regarded recording so of course you may have a different view of it to me. For me though, highly reagrded would be me popping it on a high cliff and pushing it over, and regarding it falling into the depths with considerable satisfaction.

[Trollheart]

Album title: Awaken the Guardian
Artist: Fates Warning
Nationality: American
Sub-genre: Progressive Metal
Year: 1986
Position on list for that year: 6
Chronology: 3 of 13 (so far)
Familiarity with artist: 2
Familiarity with album: 1
Gold Rated track(s): None
Silver Rated track(s): Guardian, Time Long Past
Wooden Rated track(s): Everything else
Comments: Ah yes, this is much better. Firmly in my wheelhouse now. I haven't heard any Fates Warning but I know of them, and I do like my prog metal, so let's see what this is like. Acoustic opening kicks into a hard and heavy rocker on "The Sorceress", and I don't know if it's the YouTube I'm listening to, or if the album is badly produced, but the level seems very low, hard to hear the vocalist over the music, he seems to be straining. I'd have to say that overall I'd agree with the general consensus that this is far more on the metal side than the progressive, in fact I find it hardly prog at all. I'm reminded of the first two Kamelot albums, and how different they sound to the later material. This is, to me, basic, flat-out metal, not a keyboard or cello in sight, and in general, it's boring me. At least "Guardian" has an interesting guitar riff intro, and some sort of acoustic-like strumming, but I can still barely hear the vocalist. Honestly, I read praise for him and this album and I have to wonder what are these people smoking? This is bloody awful. How did this ever get onto any list, never mind a prog one?

I'm just sort of tuning it out now, waiting (praying) for it to end, and honestly, if this is the best Fates Warning can do then I will be investigating them no further, unless of course I have to and they have another album in the top ten for one of the years. But as a private listen, I'd rather be subjected to Emperor or Darkthrone or, hell, the sound of a bus crashing for forty minutes than listen to another poor album like this. And poor is being generous. I thought when I saw prog metal coming up that my ship had come in, but it seems there's a leak and the whole thing quickly sank to the bottom of the ocean. And I can't swim.

Personal Rating: 3

[Toy Revolver]

Emperor or Darkthrone

wtf u talkin bout, willis?

[Trollheart]

Not the greatest fan of black metal, but I'd rather listen to either band than these guys.

[Trollheart]

Album title: Killing Technology
Artist: Voivod
Nationality: Canadian
Sub-genre: Progressive Metal
Year: 1987
Position on list for that year: 5
Chronology: 3 of 15
Familiarity with artist: 2
Familiarity with album: 1
Gold Rated track(s): None
Silver Rated track(s): None
Wooden Rated track(s): None
Comments: Coincidentally, another prog metal album, though it's my understanding that Voivod are more thrash than prog, however it can hardly be as bad as Fates Warning, can it? Can it? Let's hope not. Okay well there's a somewhat industrial feel to the opener, and title track, with a beeping machine going and dark atmosphere before harsh guitar punches through on the back of galloping percussion, and yeah, from the off this sounds far more in the realm of thrash than progressive metal; very fast, very loud, very aggressive. Aggressive Prog? Singer actually reminds me a little of Jess Cox, original vocalist for the Tygers of Pan-Tang. Hmm.

As a metal album I'd rate this a lot higher, but in the realm of progressive metal I have to say that like Fates Warning it's pretty poor. It's not that it's not a great album - it is - but I find very little about it that I could call progressive as I understand the term. A great thrash metal album for sure, but progressive? Not for me, mate.

Personal Rating: 4 (prog) 8 (pure metal)

[Trollheart]

Album title: Spirit of Eden
Artist: Talk Talk
Nationality: English
Sub-genre: Progressive Pop
Year: 1988
Position on list for that year: 4
Chronology: 4 of 5
Familiarity with artist: 3
Familiarity with album: 2
Gold Rated track(s): None of this is applicable on this album
Silver Rated track(s):
Wooden Rated track(s):
Comments: Any album labelled by critics as "pretentious" has to have decent prog rock credentials, and opening with a 22-minute suite is a good start. I only really know Talk Talk as a pop band, from their hit singles, but hell, if they can compose a suite and get up the nose of music critics then maybe they have a chance. It's a pretty ethereal opening, building slowly and even when it gets going the vocal is low-key and almost close to what you might consider shoegaze; very ambient and slow. That's "The Rainbow", first and indeed title part of the suite, with "Eden" following on a louder, guitar-driven melody as the vocal gets clearer against some hollow, almost metallic percussion, slow and measured. The singer reminds me of Steve Hogarth from Marillion, at times like yer man out of Gazpacho, but you know, I can see the problem here.

Most of this is so low-key and sung in an almost offhand way that it's hard to engage with any of it, much less remember it when it's over. Hell, it's hard enough to remember it as it plays through! I've just gone through part three of the suite and I didn't even realise it, and now we're into "Inheritance" and it doesn't sound all that different. This was definitely not an album written to create hit singles or power up the commercial charts, yet it made a decent showing, just scraping into the top twenty. Still, a major drop since its predecessor, The Colour of Spring hit number 8, though a better performance than the album before that, when It's My Life ended its chart climb well outside the top thirty.

I think probably the best way to appreciate this album (and probably the way it was intended to be appreciated) is as one long piece of music, with occasional short breaks between the tracks. A kind of symphony of emotion and feeling set to music. Taken in that manner, this is a very beautiful record, but I would not be taking tracks off it for a playlist.

Personal Rating: 7

[Lexi Darling]

The later Talk Talk albums are more acclaimed and influential and I get why, but The Color of Spring is my favorite album of theirs. Wonderful artsy pop record.

[Toy Revolver]

Eden is a clear 10/10 super masterpiece

Voivod is not good music

great reviews though

[Guybrush]

It's been a while since I listened Spirit of Eden now, but I like that album a lot. I find it a little hard to find time for that sort of music which is introspective, a little slow, but very beautiful. It's probably best to take one's time, plop on some headphones and just drown oneself in it, but that's something I almost never do these days.