DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED

This one's definitely essential. Although many would argue about where Progressive Rock started, I am of the opinion it started with this album. Others believe that it started two years later with In the Court of the Crimson King. But just listen to both albums back to back and tell me that King Crimson were not greatly influenced by this album.

This is an incredibly exceptional album of great quality that is essential, but not perfect. Yes some of it is dated, and may be considered corny to many modern listeners, but therein lies its charm. In fact Another Morning, probably the corniest bit on the album, is probably my favorite song for its well constructed musical arrangement, intelligent lyrics, and truthfulness. It's a very honest song, and this entire album is honest, and beautiful. This innovative concept album was the first of its kind. There had been semi-concept albums before. Sgt. Pepper is usually the first that comes to mind, and you can definitely hear the influence that album had on this. But this album took it one gigantic step further. It tells a story, with a clear beginning middle and end as represented by each track, of every man's day. It does with the use of voices, guitars, flutes, mellotrons, and the london festival orchestra. There are so many different styles of music here too, and was probably the most stylistically diverse album of new material ever released at that point.

The Moody Blues became very philosophical with this album, and proceeded to become more philosophical with their future albums. It was a welcome direction, and they seemed to portray wisdom beyond there years. It's to imagine a group of 20 year old kids releasing an album like this today, where the music seems to be dominated by cynicism and angst. It is nice to look at a time when rock music was still young and innocent, and spreading its wings to and breaking the boundaries that had limited it. With this album, it seemed that anything was possible. There was no set style or genre, it was all just good music. This was the beginning of the best period for rock music, and this album is a good starting point for progressive rock.