Mastereditor Jerry Ewing has asked all good people to list their ten favorite prog albums of all time and submit them to PROG by July 4. Jerry, I assume is thinking about the American founding. Ha. Well, probably not.
So, all time? Back to Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys? Without giving any real thought to the parameters, I jotted down my favorite albums. I followed only three rules: no duplication of bands; listing them in alphabetical order; and writing down what immediately came to my mind.
So, please consider this tentative at best. And, of course, subject to revision.
For Jerry Ewing: My Top (10) Prog Albums—EVER.
- Ayreon, Universal Migrator
- BBT, EEFP
- Cosmograf, Capacitor
- Flower Kings, Space Revolver
- Gazpacho, Night
- Genesis, Selling England by the Pound
- Glass Hammer, Inconsolable Secret
- Kansas, Leftoverture
- Nosound, Lightdark
- Porcupine Tree, Fear of a Blank Planet
- Riverside, Second Life Syndrome
- Rush, 2112
- Talk Talk, Spirit of Eden
- The Reasoning, Dark Angel
- The Tangent, Down and Out in Paris
- Yes, Close to the Edge
Progarchy 
I have a nice feeling to this list although mine won’t be a copy of course 😉
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Typical Brad, it says10, you posted 16. 10 is way harder than 16 :). I also would not include any CD released in the past month as I am often enamored by new music, but quickly tire of it. Not to say Capacitor won’t hold up but that is still to be determine.d
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Frank, CAPACITOR is really shorthand for the whole Cosmograf collection.
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errrrr 16? but hang on….this is prog we are talking about so 16 in a top 10 makes perfect sense to me.
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I didn’t count! Total stream of consciousness–think, type, don’t edit!
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ok here goes
Aerie Faerie Nonsense The Enid
Shadowlands Glass Hammer
EEFP BBT
Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Genesis
V Spocks Beard
Relayer Yes
Modern Masquerade Fruupp
Testimony neal morse
Six wives Rick Wakeman
Be good to yourself at least once a day Man
Fish out of water Chris squire
Voyage of the Acolyte Steve Hackett
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Dave, what a great list. It tells me a lot about you. I would’ve gone next to anything Matt Stevens does as well as Neal Morse. Great list. I am a bit surprised, as I assumed Brits would find Neal Morse lyrics too offputting.
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Your Hackett and Squire choices are great, of course. Are you not a Talk Talk fan–or do you not consider them prog?
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Nice list, Carl. I like your take on prog, frankly.
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Do you know what? apart from a couple of hits they had here I have not really listened to them. Will try and change that over the next couple of days
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Well, this should get me fired!
“The Tide, The Thief & River’s End” by Caligula’s Horse
“Images and Words” by Dream Theater
“Wounded” by Enchant
“Song for America“ (and “In The Spirit of Things”) by Kansas
“Thrak” by King Crimson
“Black Holes And Revelations” by Muse
“Remedy Lane” by Pain of Salvation
“Queen II” by Queen
“Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep” by Spock’s Beard
“Fragile” by Yes
Of course, if I consider Muse “prog” (they are “prog-gish”), I really should toss in “OK Computer” by Radiohead (one of my Top 10 Regardless of Genre), “faith hope love” by King’s X, and “Superunknown” by Soundgarden. My sneaky pick, however, is “Queen II”, which really is quite proggy–and brilliantly whacky!
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Queen ii great shout
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This thread is going to cost me money, lots of money when I return from holiday!
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Richie, just make sure you throw in a 10% finder’s fee. Ha. Enjoy!
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Porcupine Tree-Deadwing
Dream Theater-Scenes From a Memory
Pink Floyd- Darkside of the Moon
Tool- Lateralus
Rush- 2112
Spock’s Beard- The Light
Coheed & Cambria – Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV Vol 1
Mars Volta- Frances the Mute
Opeth- Blackwater Park
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Nice! Glad to see some love for Tool and Coheed. Mike, the Melkor18 scares the hell out of me, though!
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Love it. It’s great, Jon. Also, so glad you liked Anathema Weather Systems. Whatever misgivings I have about the new album, my love of the previous albums is pretty much unqualified.
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I just realized that my “top of the head” list was by band and my go-to from each. I’ll leave it as such, and add a few more, since you listed sixteen. I’ll leave my list at a lucky 13.
Dream Theater – Scenes from a Memory
Echolyn – Suffocating the Bloom
Supertramp – Breakfast in America
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I am not sure which of these count as prog exactly. But I’ll give ‘er a shot:
Cardiacs – Sing to God
Yes – Close to the Edge
Magma – Live/Hhai
Van der Graaf Generator – Godbluff
Todd Rundgren – A Wizard, a True Star
Ween – The Mollusk
Echolyn – Cowboy Poems Free
Ruins – Hyderomastgroningem
Gentle Giant – In a Glass House
Koenjihyakkei – II (Ni)
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