RESULTS: The Top Prog Tracks Of All Time - 2016

1123.8 points     Appears 4 times             Mean rank: 35               Ranked highest by Magnum Vaeltaja (#17)

"After a short aquatic overture, you know with the fanfare horns you're in for something special. The next part opens with an aerial majestic music, a genuine little melodic gem! Then, the song alternates violent, calm and even spacey passages with numerous pace changes and various instruments. The haunting ending is also beautiful. Magic!" – Modrigue

"This is another song to put on the long list of prog tracks based on J.R.R Tolkein's 'The Lord Of The Rings'. However, unlike the majority of these tracks, 'The White Rider' is extremely good...All the sections of this song are absolutely perfectly composed and structured, with all the instruments sounding just right. This song leaves you wanting for nothing." - baz91

49. Return To Forever – Romantic Warrior – The Romantic Warrior

1126.3 points     Appears 4 times             Mean rank: 39               Ranked highest by aglasshouse (#5)

"With a lush acoustic guitar making the intial running, Romantic Warrior is an atypically mellow piece...It's so damn melodic and groovy at the same time...I love the feeling the musicians exude of having so much time and space in which to express themselves." - Trotsky

"The 11-mins [Romantic Warrior] is also a killer with Chick's opening piano and Clarke bowed contrabass intro, the track builds up gradually, allowing White to dazzle us, even if the real hero is Clarke's bass ruling over Chick's suspended & floating piano, ADM's Spano-Flamenco guitar while Clarke takes the bow to the contrabass to close the debate." - Sean Trane

48. Gentle Giant – The Power and The Glory - Proclamation

1135.0 points     Appears 5 times             Mean rank: 88               Ranked highest by ALotOfBottle (#4)

"Despite what my family thinks, the song has excellent melodies throughout, and keeps on building with electric and bass guitars that ingeniously fill the gaps between the keyboard riff, as if to give it a delayed sound. This creates a superb effect, and adds to the dissonant middle section, where everything comes together to punch you in the face! The best track on the album and an outstanding track almost beyond belief!" – Xonty

"Proclamation has a great jazzy beginning followed by some very enjoyable two-line concurrent singing. The song continues to develop but never quite strays into the dissonance or freneticism of their previous catologue of unthinkably complex song structures." - BrufordFreak

47. King Crimson – Larks’ Tongues In Aspic – Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Pt. 1

1147.3 points     Appears 4 times             Mean rank: 33               Ranked highest by Magnum Vaeltaja (#7)

"On the surface, nothing [here] should work. It is incredibly experimental and by experimental I really mean to say the "high school chemistry teacher we all had that liked to blow up pumpkins in the hallway" type of experimental. Brutal, explosive, almost sadistic at times. "Larks' Tongues Pt. 1" offers the sort of occult-brewed jump scares and unrelenting tension that we got from "21st Century Schizoid Man", only with the dial cranked so much higher." - Magnum Vaeltaja (#7)

"Lark's Tongue in Aspic, Part One" draws back the curtain to the strains of a percolating Kalimba accompanied by an odd assortment of light percussion items. It's like entering a stranger's room through a doorway of hanging hippy beads (the abode of that mysterious, exotic siren you just met at the bar, perhaps?). The lighting is slightly surrealistic and there's a faint odor of some kind of spiced incense in the air. You're not scared; you just know for sure that you're not in your mom's house. Soon an intriguing electrical white noise arises as if you're being guided through a huge mass of neurons excitedly exchanging impulses. This is followed by some tense violin bowing from David Cross that graduates to a heavy metallic riff performed by the full ensemble...Then, without notice, the whole thing detonates and disseminates like nuclear fallout. Exhilarating is the closest I can come to doing it justice." – Chicapah

46. Rush – 2112 – 2112 

1176.7 points     Appears 5 times             Mean rank: 86               Ranked highest by Slipperman7 (#12)

"A science-fiction musical story, taking place in year... 2112, in a dystopian world where totalitarian priests have banished art and a young man discovers a guitar. Beginning with a spacey electronic introduction, the "Overture" and "Temples Of Syrinx" are the best sections: thundering and ferocious, with epic galloping riffs! I was just completely blown away the first time I listened to it. Grandiose and perfect progressive metal!" - Modrigue

"2112 is the magnum opus, and the primary reason for getting this album. The Sci-fi tale is a bit hokey, but it works well enough. As a teen, I was with it 100%. "F%$# Yeah! Rock conquers all, man!" The concept wears a little thin now, but it is not without its charm. As you would expect, the playing is outstanding. The music rocks, softens, gets downright spacey, and never fails to entertain." – bhikkhu

1331.4 points     Appears 6 times             Mean rank: 78               Ranked highest by A_Flower (#30)

"My favourite part of the whole album is the "caveman" part. Many hate it but I think it's brilliant. It's the only part of the album where you hear Mike rock out. The oddball grunted vocals are the icing on the cake." – Zravkapt

"[Tubular Bells] seems to mesmerize with every listen with hypnotic effect, encapsulating all that is great about prog rock - the weird, off-kilter time signatures, the lengthy sections of overture, the use of a variety of instruments, and the melody that haunts with every listen." – AtomicCrimsonRush

39. Van der Graaf Generator – Pawn Hearts – Lemmings

1357.3 points     Appears 5 times             Mean rank: 42               Ranked highest by ALotOfBottle (#7)

"The album starts with a bomb, the fantastic piece "Lemmings", which creates a complex sequence of themes and moods: From a nervous, keyboard driven melody, comes a soft but dense moment, where Hammill is the center of the music. Every second of this song is great, very well done, for its complexity and at the same time for its memorable melodies." - EatThatPhonebook

"Lemmings, an apocalyptic psychological and philosophical piece, has the feel of the inevitable. Hammill's vocal creates uncertainty, fear and damning, sometimes mocking, condemnation equally without any restraint, and his 'what course is there left but to die... I really don't know' is indescribable in its emotional grip." - TGM: Orb

38. Gentle Giant – Octopus – Knots

1361.7 points     Appears 6 times             Mean rank: 78               Ranked highest by DDPascalDD (#12)

"Knots - the crown of the GG catalog, and of the classic prog era in general. Like the tentacles of the title creature, the vocals weave in and out in odd rhythm showcasing the utter brilliance of these guys. At first listen, the opening seems a little calculated, which it no doubtedly was, but by the time the weaving hits the end with the chorus I'm afraid the emotion and energy are at a high." - Negoba

"The madrigal "Knots" is one of the most varied vocal weavings I have ever heard which sets itself apart from everything else GG (or anyone else for that matter) has done...It is brilliant how it plays with other instrumental parts and maintains a catchiness despite being alienating at the same time." - siLLy puppy

37. Gentle Giant – Octopus – The Advent of Panurge

1369.4 points     Appears 6 times             Mean rank: 69               Ranked highest by aglasshouse (#39)

"There's an itching the back of the mind when The Advent Of Panurge comes to an end that says, 'no, don't end! More! More!"" - Queen By-Tor

"This one has it all, the remarkable vocal interplay, the staccato keyboard work, the medieval flavor. And the overall sense of weirdness that brands GG like no other band. A great intro to the band." – Negoba

36. King Crimson – In The Court of The Crimson King - Epitaph

1403.6 points     Appears 6 times             Mean rank: 77               Ranked highest by Blinkyjoh (#23)

"If you didn't know who he was already, you might be able to guess the singer was Greg Lake from Emerson, Lake and Palmer, because of his dramatic singing on this track. The most memorable thing about this song is the use of mellotron. Without being overpowering, the keyboard gives this song an otherworldly feel that other bands would try and copy in years to come." - baz91

"The heavy waves of Mellotron and the acoustic guitar that open "Epitaph" is one of the best moments of this album. Lake's voice is undeniably good here, and the strikes of acoustic guitar that punctuate the piece are impressive even though it's a small addition." – Epignosis

1422.3 points     Appears 6 times             Mean rank: 66               Ranked highest by Guldbamsen (#18)

"Fountain of Samalcis is another outstanding track and begins with a beautiful volume swell of mellotron ominously building like a jet plane swooping past, perhaps like a fountain rising and falling. Gabriel tells the weird surreal story and the track builds with glorious mellotron orchestrated in a symphonic crescendo by Banks." – AtomicCrimsonRush

"My favorite here would be Salmacis, with blissful mellotron, a well-told story, some nice guitar-work, and some great stuff by Collins. A true team effort, in writing and performance." – Flucktrot

34. Mike Oldfield – Ommadawn – Ommadawn, Pts. 1 & 2

1429.9 points     Appears 5 times             Mean rank: 34               Ranked highest by mechanicalflattery (#10)

"If ever I were on a desert island and I only had a handful of album to choose from, Ommadawn would be in the top three! The moods and melodies, more complex than Hergest Ridge yet accessible in only the way Oldfield knows best in conveying. The African rhythms and chanting closing side one are probably the best incantations Oldfield has put together on record." - Chris S

"The Ommadawn piece is well over 30 minutes in length and runs a gamut of emotions and colors, from delectable acoustic moments to folk flavored dancings to aggressive electric guitar rock. The playing is always tasteful with every theme introduced quite simply and then being given ample time to build and expand until reaching a dramatic conclusion, at which point there will be a release and a retreat back to another calming rebirth." – Finnforest

33. Van der Graaf Generator – Pawn Hearts – Man-Erg

1453.2 points     Appears 5 times             Mean rank: 34               Ranked highest by mechanicalflattery (#4)

"Man-Erg on the other hand is one of the those heart-breaking Hammill exorcisms. The sweeping majesty of VDGG's organ- drenched symphonic moments are pretty tough to match for their intensity and Man-Erg is one of those awesome moments, perhaps doubly so, because it also contains some extraordinarily fiery hard-rocking passages (in some time signature I can't begin to fathom)." – Trotsky

"Man Erg is so amazing, beginning in almost soothing balladesque fashion which becomes downright uplifting until the moment it snaps--you then hear the screams of children as the darkness descends. This moment of a man apparently falling prey to evil is replicated so beautifully by the ensuing sonic assault, very powerful, and almost disorienting due to the simultaneous stereo panning tricks. Surely one of dark prog's most memorable moments." – Finnforest

32. Genesis – Nursery Cryme – The Return of The Giant Hogweed

1501.6 points     Appears 7 times             Mean rank: 80               Ranked highest by zwordser (#44)

"Here we are introduced to Hackett's finger tapping technique...a technique that the above mentioned young Van Halen would rework and turn into a classic guitar solo on his future band's debut album. "Hogweed" also features some premier music of this era of Genesis, including flute and piano, a beautiful classical piano break by Banks, some truly awesome music for guitar, piano, and drums, and Gabriel's theatrical vocal style which captures the mood of the story." – FragileKings

"Things get a lot heavier, with this alarming track that has two lead guitars, one low and one high, panned on both sides. Gabriel sings with a fair bit of vitriol as he tells a bizarre story about a hogweed that takes over the country. The riff during the verses is extremely inventive, and Mike Rutherford does a remarkable job in the background...After a short vocal bit with some of Gabriel's strangest vocals, there's a fiery and thunderous conclusion." – Epignosis

31. Genesis – Foxtrot – Watcher of The Skies

1504.9 points     Appears 6 times             Mean rank: 63               Ranked highest by someone_else (#25)

"Any fan of this album knows the welcome chill-up-the-spine when "Watcher Of The Skies" comes a-creeping, a grand entrance to one seriously mandatory album. A dramatic, sometimes foreboding track, this song is the apex of the early Genesis catalog, revolving around an odd groove and flowing mathematical syncopation." – slipperman

"The majestic mellotron in the opening seconds of ''Watcher of the Skies'' will haunt every prog listener for the rest of his life. With impressive bass lines and sinister organ parts, this is one of the excellent Genesis poetic deliveries with nice tune changes and a dramatic, symphonic atmosphere all the way." - apps79