I mostly agree with Pete (below) about defining prog: it is both rather impossible and, at some point, isn’t helpful. Still, I like trying to define it. But rather than doing so directly, I want to skirt around the edges of the task and simply toss out five reasons why I love prog, in no particular order (nor are these the only reasons):

1. Prog takes big ideas seriously; it asks deep questions; it tackles major themes and topics. More specifically, it addresses core questions about the nature of man, the relationships between people and between the Divine and mankind, the purpose of this mystery called “life”. Bon Jovi, on the other hand, does not. (And, yes, some prog albums fail miserably; some are even embarrassing. But at least they aren’t just about sex, pot, and being a teenage idiot.)

2. Prog musicians can play their instruments; they know how to sing, and how to write and play complex music. They have mastered multiple time signatures and chords and such. They were playing ordinary rock songs at age fourteen, then moved on to suites and movements and opuses; they are, in other words, adults. I happen to really like that. Prog musicians are aware of other forms of music; many of them are accomplished classical and jazz musicians. The Sex Pistols, of course, mastered nothing—probably not sex, or pistols, for that matter, and certainly not living a good life.

3. Prog doesn’t give a rip about Top Tens and award shows. If a real prog group ever made it to the Grammy or MTV award show, I would immediately conclude that hell had either frozen over or I was actually in hell. (Now that I’ve written that, I’m sure someone will point out such an appearance. Still, the basic point stands, especially in 2012.)

4. Prog, at its best, creates a world and escorts you through that world, in a way that perhaps only great classical or jazz can do. This transport is difficult to explain or define, but it is quite distinctive. Put another way, there is an inherently dramatic quality to prog that is consistently part of the genre; prog has a soundtrack quality, but without need of a movie.

5. Prog has a unique visual quality, as evidenced by prog album covers (see Pete’s post below), but also by its cinematic and often epic qualities. Some prog music is bad on an epic scale because it aims for something really epic. Meanwhile, Justin Bieber (or whatever his name is) is bad on a minute and microscopic scale because, well, he aims to made 8-year-old girls scream. And don’t me started on Nickelback.

Next up: my favorite dozen “almost prog” albums!