How Our Top 25 Studio Albums Change Day After Day - Progressive Rock Music Forum

New ranking:

Rating 10

1) From H to He Who Am The Only One - Van Der Graaf Generator

2) Pawn Hearts - Van Der Graaf Generator

3) Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt

4) The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other - Van Der Graaf Generator

Rating 9,75/10

5) Silent Corner and The Empty Stage - Peter Hammill

Rating 9,5/10

6) Starsailor - Tim Buckley

7) In The Court Of... - King Crimson

8) Spirit Of Eden - Talk Talk

9) Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

10) Red - King Crimson

11) Chameleon In The Shadow Of The Night - Peter Hammill

Rating 9,25/10

12) Music In A Doll's House - Family

13) Atom Heart Mother - Pink Floyd

14) Roxy Music - Roxy Music

15) First Utterance - Comus

16) Gentle Giant - Gentle Giant

17) Lorca - Tim Buckley

18) Arbeit Macht Frei - Area

19) Tori Amos - Under The Pink

Rating 9/10

20) Islands - King Crimson

21) Fearless - Family

22) Aqualung - Jetho Tull

23) Quatermass - Quatermass

24) For Your Pleasure- Roxy Music

25) Trespass - Genesis

Day after day, albums rated "9" disappear.

"Happiness is real only when shared"

My next review will be on Laughing Stock.

I'm undecided between 8,5 or 9-, as final evaluation. So, it won't get in my top 25.

Talk Talk: 8-

It's my Life 7,5

The Colour of Spring 8+

Spirit of Eden 9,5

Laughing Stock 8,5 or 9-

Mark Hollis 9

"Happiness is real only when shared"

I made this a couple of months ago using this template. Not all of it is prog and it's probably no longer 100% accurate anymore either but I think it still gives an accurate representation of my musical taste:

jamesbaldwin wrote:

Lewian wrote:

Have you already rated Laughing Stock or can it still get in?

Here my review http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2307858

Interesting, this is obviously a well thought through review that you wrote after many mindful listenings. Still to me Laughing Stock feels closer and warmer (you call it cold) than Spirit of Eden. Runeii is so comforting and peaceful. And After The Flood has always featured among my ten best songs of all time, just because besides all the experimental and unusual sounds that even this song has, it is a rock of reliability in these otherwise unpredictable waters. As a Can fan I surely can appreciate a steady hypnotic rhythm. But of course we know that music appreciation is subjective... In a way it illustrates how giving numerical marks cannot do the art justice. I couldn't argue any other marking, but to me this album is beyond marking... but of course I'm not criticising you, I play that game myself...

Edited by Lewian - January 18 2020 at 15:45

jamesbaldwin wrote:

But I dont see Can in your rankings.

Well, that's probably another case of how incapable ratings and rankings are to capture the essence of art and music. At the end of the day there are a number of albums that are so special and important to me in their own ways that in fact no album should be ranked above them, but there are more than ten of these. That said, all Can albums except maybe Future Days (which is their most consistent, but as a whole doesn't grab me as much as their best stuff does) have their highs and relative lows that don't draw me in that much. So if I rank albums, these appear not quite at the top, but this doesn't take away from the fact that they're the number one band for me, which is not governed that much by individual albums but rather by their overall approach, range, and influence, including the later solo work not only by Czukay. Just to illustrate, Unlimited Edition has lots of stuff that I don't love that much individually, but at the same time it is such a feast of experimentation, playfulness and surprises that it contributes big time to my overall appreciation of the band, despite the fact that as an album to listen to from beginning to end no way I'd rate this 5 stars.

New ranking:

Rating 10

1) From H to He Who Am The Only One - Van Der Graaf Generator

2) Pawn Hearts - Van Der Graaf Generator

3) Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt

4) The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other - Van Der Graaf Generator

Rating 9,75/10

5) Arbeit Macht Frei - Area

6) Silent Corner and The Empty Stage - Peter Hammill

7) In The Court Of... - King Crimson

Rating 9,5/10

8) Starsailor - Tim Buckley

9) Spirit Of Eden - Talk Talk

10) Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

11) Red - King Crimson

12) Chameleon In The Shadow Of The Night - Peter Hammill

Rating 9,25/10

13) Music In A Doll's House - Family

14) Atom Heart Mother - Pink Floyd

15) Roxy Music - Roxy Music

16) First Utterance - Comus

17) Gentle Giant - Gentle Giant

18) Lorca - Tim Buckley

19) Maledetti - Area

20) Tori Amos - Under The Pink

Rating 9/10

21) Islands - King Crimson

22) Fearless - Family

23) Aqualung - Jetho Tull

24) Trespass - Genesis

25) Third Ear Band - Third Ear Band

"Happiness is real only when shared"

I am currently in a Zeuhl phase, so I rank Zeuhl albums very high

A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta

jamesbaldwin wrote:

BaldJean wrote:

I am currently in a Zeuhl phase, so I rank Zeuhl albums very high

Which Zeuhl albums do you love?

I think I'm on my way into this genre as we speak!

"I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021

Maybe I'm too generous with 5 star ratings because I could easily name 25 five star rating albums. I think I could also go up to 100 5 star rating albums. What I can't really do is name my top 25 favourite albums because depending on the day or week the order would change and some albums would move into my top 25 and some albums would move out of my top 25. Certain albums however will never move out of my top 25. They include:

Yes: TFTO, Close To The Edge

Pink Floyd: DSOTM, WYWH, PATGOD

Genesis: SEBTP, Foxtrot, TOTT, Duke

King Crimson: LTIA, Red

Jethro Tull: APP

The Doors: Strange Days

Split Enz: Mental Notes

Marillion: SFAJT, Marbles, This Strange Engine

The Flower Kings: Stardust We Are

Edited by iluvmarillion - December 30 2020 at 23:33

Here's my list favorite albums by favorite bands, and prog essentials (definitely not in order). Even decades in, there's so much out there to explore:

Gentle Giant - In a Glass House / Three Friends

Steve Hacket - Voyage of the Acolyte

Ian Gillan Band - Scarabus

Fireballet - Night on Bald Mountain

PFM - Chocolate Kings

Gryphon - Red Queen to Gryphon Three

Genesis - Selling England By the Pound

Esta - Mediterranean Crossroads

Yes - Close to the Edge

Dixie Dregs - What If

Family - Songs From a Doll's House

Hawkwind - Warrior on the Edge of Time

Marillion - Clutching at Straws

Audience - Audience

Uriah Heep - Salisbury

Curved Air - Second Album

Earth & Fire - Song of the Marching Children

Renaissance - Novella

Strawbs - Hero and Heroine

Moody Blues - To Our Children's Children's Children

Procol Harum - Grand Hotel

Camel - Mirage

Air - Moon Safari

Robert Fripp - Exposure

Toyah - Ophelia's Dream

Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy

Phil Manzanera - Firebird V11

Bo Hansson - Magician's Hat

Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn

Roland Bocquet - Paradia

Francois Breant - Sons Optique

Samla Mammas Manna - Klossa Knapitatet

Pat Metheny Group - Imaginary Day

Edited by Boojieboy - October 07 2021 at 08:55