Four tracks over 20 & under 30 mins from the 10's

I am thinking about making this a series. I decided to make a poll that covers the 2010s (up to 2019) pitting four tracks off studio albums by four bands of over 20 minutes and less than 30 minutes against each other that are included in PA's Prog categories. If there is more than one applicable track (from 20:00 to 29:59), then I default to the longest by the act. Please vote for one you appreciate (or least dislike) even if you have not spent much time checking out the others music. It's not a contest. Additionally, please mention any others that are applicable. In that case I would very much appreciate it if you include the year of the release of the album it is off as well as the track duration. The Wobbler album is the top ranked album at PA for the decade in the charts, and I would be surprised if it does not get the most votes here. I happen to adore "The Glowing Man" and am very big on Swans, but Wobbler's would be a comfortable number two for me.

Dream Theater - "Illumination Theory" (22:17)



The Flower Kings - "Numbers" (25:27)



Swans - "The Glowing Man" (28:53)



Wobbler - "From Silence to Somewhere" (20:59)



Here are some stats to go with the albums that these tracks are off from Prog Archives (PA) and Rate Your Music (RYM):

At PA: Dream Theater's Dream Theater (2013) has a 3.26 average rating, 47 reviews and 1052 ratings
At RYM: Dream Theater's Dream Theater has a 2.95 average rating, 71 reviews and 2,646 ratings

At PA: The Flower Kings' Banks of Eden (2012) has a 4.05 average rating, 46 reviews and 866 ratings
At RYM: The Flower Kings' Banks of Eden has a 3.59 average rating, 20 reviews and 452 ratings

At PA: Swans' The Glowing Man (2016) has a 3.90 average rating with 4 reviews and 87 ratings
At RYM: Swan's The Glowing Man has a 3.84 average rating with 100 reviews and 11,014 ratings

At PA: Wobbler's From Silence to Somewhere (2017) has a 4.35 average rating, 35 reviews and 797 ratings
At RYM: Wobbler's From Silence to Somewhere has a 3.71 average rating with 19 reviews and 975 ratings

Edited by Logan - July 21 2022 at 22:57

Wobbler 

Wobbler from the list. Here are some others that meet the criteria.

Thieves' Kitchen - The Voice of the Lar (20:06) 2019, Genius Loci

Transatlantic - Into the Blue (25:13) 2014, Kaleidoscope

Southern Empire - The Bridge that Binds (28:21) 2016, s/t

Southern Empire - Crossroads (29:15) 2018, Civilisation

Antoine Fafard - Mission Ganymede (20:21) 2017, Proto Mundi

Antoine Fafard - The Journey (20:15) 2017, Proto Mundi

Arena - The Legend of Elijah Shade (22:39) 2018, Double Vision

Haken - Visions (22:25) 2011, Visions

Helmet of Gnats - High Street (30:11) 2010, High Street

Frogg Cafe - Under Wuhu Son (20:12) 2010, Bateless Edge

Discipline - Rogue (24:04) 2011, To Shatter All Accord

Wobbler gets the nod. 

Wobbler

Wobbler without photo-finish

1) Wobbler - very good

suitkees wrote: Hercules wrote: 4) Swans - utterly tedious and dull. If I had the choice of facing a firing squad or listening to it again, my only decision would be whether or not I wanted a blindfold.   A tiny bit hyperbolic, no? I pick Swans; they are the only ones that sound original.

If I were a sadist, I'd take delight in the number of times Tony reportedly has suffered through music that I have posted in topics... But it's little fun when the subject is a masochist who takes it on to torture himself without coercion.

Edited by Logan - July 23 2022 at 06:53

Hercules wrote: Logan wrote: suitkees wrote: Hercules wrote: 4) Swans - utterly tedious and dull. If I had the choice of facing a firing squad or listening to it again, my only decision would be whether or not I wanted a blindfold.   A tiny bit hyperbolic, no? I pick Swans; they are the only ones that sound original. If I were a sadist, I'd take delight in the number of times Tony reportedly has suffered through music that I have posted in topics... But it's little fun when the subject is a masochist who takes it on to torture himself without coercion. I try to listen to a wide range of musical styles, and sometimes I find something I really like. But some is just awful to my ears.

Understood, and of course I'm just kidding around. I also try things that don't appeal and sometimes those will appeal at some later time. Maybe once I have got into other related music. I'm often finding new rabbitholes to delve into. That said, I will very rarely listen through something long if I find it really antithetical to my interests. I'm not very patient. I can listen to things I don't like at some length, but I have to maintain some interest. And some things are so bad they are good for me. I will often scrub through tracks, play bits and pieces at first to see if I think it might appeal, but that would not work for me with a lot of Swans, as I have to be immersed in the soundscapes. With quite a bit of Swans of the modern era, if I get "out of the song", not immersed in the groove and mood, then I stop enjoying it . Like if I'm distracted, or start thinking about the music, then suddenly the music doesn't work for me. It does help that I like Krautrock and things like Can when listening to the Glowing Man as it is very repetitive and has that kind of groove. For you, I would think that the Swans era that would be most palatable to you would be when they were at their most melodic, and I think accessible, in the late 80s to early 90s (The Burning World, Love of Life...). Which is not to say that you would enjoy those if you haven't yet heard them. I struggled with the early material (pre Children of God) and The Seer (though I now appreciate The Seer, although I prefer The Glowing Man and To Be Kind, it really tested my patience). From the modern era, leaving meaning. would have the advantage of not having those really long numbers, and I think would be more accessible to most.

From The Seer, this short, light countryish tune would be more accessible to most than say The Apostate.



Edited by Logan - July 23 2022 at 09:44

Wobbler - "From Silence to Somewhere"