This year has seen a bonanza of quality progressive music. I have probably listened to more great albums this calendar go-round then in any recent year. This list is, of course, totally subjective and based on my own predispositions towards symphonic, orchestral, and melody-hooked prog.  There was such a plethora of wonderfully creative work in 2017 that I am increasing the list from the usual Top Ten or Top Twenty to a whopping 40 best.

And though ## 40 – – 21 are being categorized as only “honorable mentions” they still deserve your attention.  All of the following releases are so good that on any given day (just not today) they might well “crack the ceiling” and wind up on my official TOP TWENTY (coming later this week).   And now, in descending order from number 40 to number 21 are this years:

“Honorable Mentions”

40) SACRED APE/Sacred Ape

39) KARDA ESTRA/Infernal Spheres

38) STEVEN WILSON/To The Bone

37) PHOENIX AGAIN/Unexplored

36) SKY ARCHITECT/Nomad

35) CARPTREE/Emerger

34) SILHOUETTE/The World Is Flat…And Other Alternative Facts

33) CALIGULA’S HORSE/In Contact

32) WHITE WILLOW/Future Hopes

31) SARIS/Ghosts Of Yesterday

30) KERYGMATIC PROJECT/Chronicles From Imaginary Places

29) BJORN RIIS/Forever Comes To An End

28) THE SAMURAI OF PROG/On We Sail

27) LONG EARTH/The Source

26) LONELY ROBOT/The Big Dream

25) STEVE HACKETT/The Night Siren

24) DAVE KERZNER/Static

23) SECRET SAUCER/The Reset

22) SOUP/Remedies

AND, #21 just barely missing out of the TOP TWENTY but still a brilliant work by the creative muse of my favorite band, RIVERSIDE…

21) LUNATIC SOUL/Fractured

And once again the progressive rock releases have simply the best graphics and most stunning cover art of any genre in recorded music.  With the aforementioned, the music is every bit as beautiful as the jackets.  What a year for eyes and most especially our ears!

Set Mellotron to 11

– –  Jay Watson