Before you
skip over this opening statement to look at the list (many of you probably have
already), know that none of this is set yet. Digitaldreamdoor.com had a spurt
of activity in the Prog section of the forum. But that has waned, so I turned
to you guys. I want this list to happen. I was left with ownership over the
list after the previous man grew tired of it (due to lack of interest), so I’m
doing my best to get this project done.
The
criteria are (only subject to Progressive Rock, not Rock in general) influence,
acclaim, musical impact, and technical uniqueness. The lattermost subject of
criteria is the least impacting (since it’s rather vague and the most
subjective topic in the first place).
There are
also some hidden factors. Album representation is one, such as avoiding putting
too many songs from one album. Similar concept for artists, not putting too
many songs by one band (like digitaldreamdoor’s metal list having 10+ Black
Sabbath songs). Concept albums were a tricky decision, along with highly
acclaimed albums with no clearly prominent track (i.e. excelling more than the
others in the criteria; e.g. The Snow Goose). So certain albums are represented
by a single track, while other albums, unfortunately, are left alone. They more
than likely belong in the greatest albums list though!
The other
hidden factor is subgenre representation/balance. Obviously 70’s symphonic
groups would dominate the list, but others deserve equal representation. So far
I have mostly neglected the Post-Rock and Math-Rock scenes. Some other Prog
Metal songs could be necessary additions, too..
Without
further ado..
The Top 100
Progressive Rock Songs
- 1. The
Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson
- 2. Close to
the Edge - Yes
- 3. Supper’s
Ready - Genesis
- 4. Thick as
a Brick - Jethro Tull
- 5. 21st
Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson
- 6. Echoes -
Pink Floyd
- 7. 2112 -
Rush
- 8. Karn
Evil 9 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
- 9. Firth of
Fifth - Genesis
- 10. Shine
On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd
- 11. Peaches
en Regalia - Frank Zappa
- 12. Tarkus
- Emerson, Lake & Palmer
- 13. A
Plague of Lighthouse Keepers - Van der Graaf Generator
- 14. Meeting
of the Spirits - Mahavishnu Orchestra
- 15. Nights
in White Satin - Moody Blues
- 16. The
Gates of Delirium - Yes
- 17.
Metropolis - Dream Theater
- 18. Tubular
Bells - Mike Oldfield
- 19. YYZ -
Rush
- 20.
Autobahn - Kraftwerk
- 21. Dancing
with the Moonlit Knight - Genesis
- 22. Time -
Pink Floyd
- 23.
Starless - King Crimson
- 24. Script
for a Jester’s Tear - Marillion
- 25. Nine
Feet Underground - Caravan
- 26. Yours
Is No Disgrace - Yes
- 27. Knots -
Gentle Giant
- 28. L’Evoluzione
- Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
- 29. Song of
Scheherazade - Renaissance
- 30. Larks’
Tongues in Aspic - King Crimson
- 31. Phaedra
- Tangerine Dream
- 32. Heart
of the Sunrise - Yes
- 33. Lady
Fantasy - Camel
- 34. Appena
Un Po’ - Premiata Forneria Marconi
- 35. La
Villa Strangiato - Rush
- 36. In a
Silent Way - Miles Davis
- 37. A Louse
Is Not a Home - Peter Hammill
- 38. Epitaph
- King Crimson
- 39. Mëkanïk Kömmandöh - Magma
- 40. Roundabout
- Yes
- 41. Magnum
Opus - Kansas
- 42. Birds
of Fire - Mahavishnu Orchestra
- 43. Dogs -
Pink Floyd
- 44. The
Sleepwalkers - Van der Graaf Generator
- 45. The
Musical Box - Genesis
- 46. Phallus
Dei - Amon Düül II
- 47. A
Change of Seasons - Dream Theater
- 48. Watcher
of the Skies - Genesis
- 49. Moon in
June - Soft Machine
- 50. In a
Glass House - Gentle Giant
- 51. Shadow
of the Hierophant - Steve Hackett
- 52. Stratus
- Billy Cobham
- 53. Pull Me
Under - Dream Theater
- 54. Zarathustra
- Museo Rosenbach
- 55. Lemmings
- Van der Graaf Generator
- 56. Jordrök
- Änglagård
- 57. Halleluhwah
- Can
- 58. Arriving
Somewhere but Not Here - Porcupine Tree
- 59. Histoires
Sans Paroles - Harmonium
- 60. Hocus
Pocus - Focus
- 61. Lateralus
- Tool
- 62. Master
Builder - Gong
- 63. Kobaïa
- Magma
- 64. Xanadu
- Rush
- 65. Duel of
the Jester and the Tyrant - Return to Forever
- 66. New
World - Strawbs
- 67. Lunar
Sea - Camel
- 68. Hallogallo
- Neu!
- 69. Assault
and Battery/The Golden Void - Hawkwind
- 70. And You
and I - Yes
- 71. Poseidon’s
Creation - Eloy
- 72. Cygnus
X-1 Book II: Hemispheres - Rush
- 73. One
More Red Nightmare - King Crimson
- 74. Widow’s
Peak - IQ
- 75. Blackwater
Park - Opeth
- 76. Stardust
We Are - Flower Kings
- 77. Ommadawn
- Mike Oldfield
- 78. Hair
Pie: Bake 1 & 2 - Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
- 79. Mumps -
Hatfield and the North
- 80. Harvest
of Souls - IQ
- 81. Jurassic
Shift - Ozric Tentacles
- 82. Suite
Sister Mary - Queensrÿche
- 83.
Blackest Eyes - Porcupine Tree
- 84. Drip
Drip - Comus
- 85. The
Hanging Tree - Arena
- 86. Beyond
the Pale - Pain of Salvation
- 87. July
Morning - Uriah Heep
- 88. Flight
Over Rio - Al Di Meola
- 89. Son et
Lumiere/Inertiatic ESP - Mars Volta
- 90. The
Light - Spock’s Beard
- 91. Opening
Move - Gryphon
- 92. Sea
Song - Robert Wyatt
- 93. All of
the Above - Transatlantic
- 94. The
Rainbow - Talk Talk
- 95. Man-Erg
- Van der Graaf Generator
- 96. Amygdala
- Henry Cow
- 97. Impressioni
Di Settembre - Premiata Forneria Marconi
- 98. Último
Entardecer - Bacamarte
- 99. Ronde -
Univers Zero
- 100. Krautrock
- Faust
Obviously
some people won’t be satisfied with the list or specific things about it.
That’s why I’ve an on-hold list of songs that barely missed the cut or weren’t
considered heavily. Well, this is a big collaborative effort. If anyone would
like to argue for any of these songs’ inclusion, be my guest.
Notable
songs/albums/artists left out (or “on hold”):
- Anathema
- Area
- Ash Ra
Tempel
- Ayreon
- “Canto
Nomade Per Un Prigioneiro Politico” - Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
- Brian Eno
- Bubu
- “Nimrodel/The
Procession/The White Rider” - Camel
- Camel’s The
Snow Goose
- “Oh Yeah” -
Can
- Cardiacs
- Death
- Devin
Townsend
- Discipline
- “Home” -
Dream Theater
- “Six
Degrees of Inner Turbulence” - Dream Theater
- Edge of
Sanity
- Egg
- ELP’s debut
album
- “Toccata” -
Emerson, Lake, & Palmer
- “Inca Roads”
- Frank Zappa
- “Cinema
Show” - Genesis
- Genesis’s The
Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
- “Return of
the Giant Hogweed” - Genesis
- Gentle
Giant’s Acquiring the Taste
- “The Advent
of Panurge” - Gentle Giant
- Goblin
- Godspeed
You! Black Emperor
- “Flying
Teapot” - Gong
- “You Never
Blow Yr Trip Forever” - Gong
- Herbie
Hancock
- Jethro
Tull’s Aqualung
- Kayo Dot
- Khan’s
Space Shanty
- King Crimson’s
Discipline
- “I Talk to
the Wind” - King Crimson
- King
Crimson’s In the Wake of Poseidon
- “Moonchild”
- King Crimson
- “Red” -
King Crimson
- Klaus
Schulze
- Le Orme
- Los Jaivas
- Marillion’s
Brave
- “Forgotten
Sons” - Marillion
- “The Great
Escape” - Marillion
- Marillion’s
Misplaced Childhood
- Maudlin of
the Well
- National
Health
- Neal Morse
- “Song for
the Bearded Lady” - Nucleus
- Opeth’s
Still Life
- Pain of
Salvation’s The Perfect Element
- Peter
Gabriel
- “Brain
Damage/Eclipse” - Pink Floyd
- “Pigs
(Three Different Ones)” - Pink Floyd
- “Sheep” -
Pink Floyd
- “Us and
Them” - Pink Floyd
- “Welcome to
the Machine” - Pink Floyd
- Popol Vuh
- “Anesthetize”
- Porcupine Tree
- Procol
Harum
- Psychotic
Waltz
- Riverside
- “Cygnus
X-1” - Rush
- “Tom
Sawyer” - Rush
- SBB
- Sigur Rós
- Steve
Hackett’s Spectral Mornings
- Steve Hillage
- Supertramp
- Symphony X
- “Djed” -
Tortoise
- Traffic
- Transatlantic’s
Bridge Across Forever
- “The
Undercover Man” - Van der Graaf Generator
- Vovoid
- “Awaken” -
Yes
- “The
Revealing Science of God” - Yes
- “Starship
Trooper” - Yes
Dang. Tons
of great music. It’s a shame there’s only 100 spots on this list.
Other
reasonable suggestions are welcome. Not proto- or prog-related artists. The guy
working on this list before me had put The Who and The Beatles songs in the top
30. Progressive Rock is broad enough that we don’t need to include any
precursors or non-Prog artists that did something that could qualify as
“Progressive music”.