50 greatest Prog albums of all time...

Even if I prefer prog, there are non prog albums that would be in my top 50 or close - many of them would be folk rock albums not surprisingly. 

I guess there wouldn't be much difference.  You originally phrased it as "if you preferred prog", which is different from saying you like prog almost exclusively

The occasional Progressive Rock underground album would appear in stores in '78...and that was a direct indication to American fans from the early 70's that the Progressive Rock movement was still alive...for example: Roger Glover..ELEMENTS. Or imported underground stuff like Conventum, but nevertheless...Captain Beyond and U.K sounded nothing like Progressive Rock and they were letdown by the commercialism of it. The original definition of Prog , in all of it's elements was changed around the time bands like Curved Air began to incorporate a very slight R&B or Blues sound into their music, unlike Curved Air's Second Album which goes as far to touch a Blues feel on the Ritchie Blackmore level. Basically that equaled putting in a few Blues licks in one song off the album....which was a quirky kind of song and so the intention would not be to combine a Blues or soulful style to a Prog album, but just one particular strange sounding song. 

Gentle Giant were approaching their composition with a sound and style originally created by YES. It began on The Power and the Glory with songs like "Cogs In Cogs" where clearly the vocals were a emulation of what had been done before by Jon Anderson. Later on, Free Hand and Interview featured many bass lines that  were attempted by holding a candle to the great Chris Squire and the emulation of Squire on the later Gentle Giant albums was exacting. "In The Dead Of Night" was played on Rock radio stations and it became , (for a while), another Rock anthem on the east coast. Although obviously U.K. were very progressive musicians and many of the tracks from the debut were progressive sounding, the actual release of that album was to further market Progressive Rock through the media by adding more appealing melodies to please the ROCK CROWD and still adding the obscure ideas often heard in underground Prog of the 70's. So this was the last chance Prog had to float above water internationally, since a percentage of people in this country were displeased with WORKS VOL. I. anyway and the indication that certain Prog bands were already being forced to sound like YES or whatever was putting money into the record company's pocket. Eventually it was pointless to imitate YES because many early 70's Prog fans lost interest in them after GOING FOR THE ONE and a new generation of youths became interested in TORMATO instead. During that time period, TORMATO was the first YES album many kids heard and they had to go back in time out of personal interest, to research this so called praise of the early albums. Although "Roundabout" was internationally known, the idea of gatherings passing around the Close To The Edge album was becoming a thing of the past. It's not the lack of interest in music itself which causes the social environment to change....it's the profit that a rich person wants to make and they do it because they can and they will...so F-you. 

So what they did was approach the Progressive Rock musicians of the early 70's with an idea to spice everything up a bit. "Can't you do a little more of this and that, instead of being obscure progressive like National Health and Gong?" These people are the lowest form of human life. They would tell Dave Stewart that his new music with National Health sounded like something everyone else was doing. Be more commercial was the key. Come up with a phrase for a token to the minds and mentalities of the youth so that we can sell more records. U.K was not exactly commercial as people drastically define commercial today. But in the 70's it was considered commercial and to a degree...toyed with or purposely designed by Jobson and Wetton to be more songwriting oriented, while Holdsworth was along for the ride. Sorry...no sale. I don't agree with the list because they changed history and confused the original definition of Progressive Rock for future generations through their endless marketing process. What it originally meant, was what it meant. Not Supertramp writing a song similar to The Beatles or Procol Harum. I love Supertramp, but...it's not Prog by any means. It crosses into barriers like Elton John and that is stylistically based on a method of songwriting, where upon the idea or process of composing a progressive piece is now on the back burner and replaced with verses. bridge , and chorus.