Strong recommendation: Three Fact Fader (album), by ENGINEERS

Year: 2009
Country: United Kingdom
Spotify link (Entire album)
YouTube link  (Clean Coloured Wire)
YouTube link (Helped By Science)
YouTube link (Emergency Room)

One of the absolute best albums of the 00's has very little, if nothing to do with prog. The outstanding British group Engineers is a pop/rock group that belongs to the shoegazing subgenre of pop made famous by outfits such as the better known French duo Air. While their type of pop music may not be particularly challenging to a listener, Engineers are an exceptional group nonetheless. Their capability of creating beautiful, memorable melodies without descending into meaninglessness is truly exemplary.

Three Fact Fader, released three years ago, was their second full length album and so far remains their crowning achievement. Even though some less powerful tracks are included, there are enough masterworks to achieve a classic status overall. The album opens with the modern classic Clean Coloured Wire which is actually based on a sample of Watussi, by the German group Harmonia, a track from their 1974 album Musik von Harmonia.

As great a song as Clean Coloured Wire is, I personally think it still pales in comparison with Helped By Science, possibly the greatest pop song of the decade. It is the one track where the Engineers' talent for building melodies shines brighter than anywhere else. Emergency Room builds a highly effective wall of sound on top of yet another attractive melody. Other standouts on the album include the title track Three Fact Fader as well as Crawl from the Wreckage, neither of which I was able to find in YouTube, so therefore no links are available above.

Engineers made their recording debut with an EP called Folly in September 2004. That recording already showed significant promise, opening with one of their all time greatest songs A Given Right. A single release Forgiveness followed in February 2005, containing an even greater work called Stake to Glory, one of the most beautiful pop songs of that year - maybe even the whole decade.

After these smaller releases, the self-titled, full length debut album Engineers was finally released in March 2005. This extremely impressive beginning of a recording career was then interrupted for well over four years, until Three Fact Fader came out in July 2009. As impressive as the debut album had been, its follow-up was even better. It seemed that Engineers could do nothing wrong.

Well, it turned out that they could. Their third album was rushed into an eagerly waiting market at the end of September 2010. In Praise of More was, in every way, as much of a disappointment as the earlier recordings had been pleasant surprises. Suffice to say, it wasn't a terrible album, but not a particularly good one either. At the time we are waiting to see how Engineers are going to recuperate from this disappointment.

Commercially, Engineers never did particularly well with Three Fact Fader, let alone its successor. Their debut peaked at #84 on the U.K. chart and generated some attention towards them, but neither one of the following two albums was able to reach a chart position.

Very strong recommendation: Never the Same (song), by ECHOLYN

Album: As the World
Year: 1995
Country: USA
Running time: 7 mins. 56 secs.
Spotify link
YouTube link

The American progressive rock group Echolyn peaked quite early. While I consider Mei (2002) their true masterpiece, it seems that the majority of their fans prefer the earlier release As the World (1995) which was their third full length album and the first one recorded for a major label. It was this album and the band's differences of opinion with Sony Music that actually caused them to split up for several years, only to reform five years later to record Cowboy Poems Free (2000).

While As the World contains several powerful songs, I have always felt it to be way too uneven in comparison with Mei. For every truly masterful song such as Entry 11-19-93, One for the Show and A Habit Worth Forming there are at least a couple of forgettable ones included. But the real masterstroke comes at the end. The last of the - count them! - 16 tracks on the album is the absolute masterpiece that is still to be surpassed in the entire output of the group.

Never the Same concludes As the World in a grandiose fashion. The subject of the 8-minute song is nothing less than life everlasting.

Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there I did not die
I say to you I will see you again
On the other side someday

The group's message about nothing ever really dying might seem silly were it not supported by possibly their strongest composition ever. After repeated verses, the chorus expands to proportions that are at the same time pathetic and extremely moving. And no matter whether you take the idea of reincarnation or an everlasting soul seriously, you cannot help being impressed by the way Echolyn deliver this particular message. You must have a heart of stone if your eyes are still dry by the time the song starts to fade out, repeating the following lines.

After the song is over
The dance goes on, so dance away
When all is said and done
Remember what's been given
Not taken away

Recommendation: From Dust to the Beyond (song), by GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT

Album: The End of the Beginning
Year: 2002
Country: Ireland
Running time: 5 mins. 17 secs.
Spotify link
YouTube link

Once again, this recommendation is not prog, but closely related. The Irish post rock group God is an Astronaut has made some pretty good post rock albums for a full decade now. From Dust to the Beyond is the outstanding second track from their very first album The End of the Beginning (2002), which I think is still the standout, possibly the best song they have made. Or composition is probably the right word here, since like the rest of their output, it is an entirely instumental piece.

God is an Astronaut has three members, and their work is best described as a combination of post rock, ambient and electronica. What makes them stand out among many similar groups is their keen ear on memorable melodies. Also, they never seem to over-utilize the noisy guitar riffs that spoil most of the post rock groups for me. Their music is mainly synthesizer and melody driven, and as such, is exceptionally well made.

From Dust to the Beyond is the best example and introduction to the group's output I can think of. Yet even though that composition is from their debut album, it doesn't mean that their later output would be of lesser value somehow. Many of my very favourite tracks are in fact from their most recent album Age of the Fifth Sun (2010), such as Dark Rift and Paradise Remains. Also, be sure to check out the track that carries one of my all time favourite downer titles, When Everything Dies which can be found on the All is Violent, All is Bright (2005) album.

Between 2002 and 2010, God is an Astronaut has released five full length albums and one EP which in any case contains nearly as many tracks as the official albums. ProgActive recommends!

Strong recommendation: Rubycon (album), by TANGERINE DREAM

Year: 1975
Country: West Germany
Running time: 34 mins. 55 secs.
Spotify link (Part 1)
Spotify link (Part 2)
YouTube link

In addition to Mike Oldfield, whose best work I just discussed, another emerging talent from the mid-1970's who was initially labelled as belonging to the progressive rock field, was the West German electronica group Tangerine Dream. Their output, like Oldfield's, was disqualified from the top 20 long prog masterpieces list so, as a sort of a goodwill gesture, I am recommending their work among the very first choices in the new article series.

The reason that, at the time, artists like Tangerine Dream and Mike Oldfield were classified as prog makers, was of course that no one had the benefit of hindsight in the 70's. Both artists differed radically from the rock'n roll norm, just like prog artists did, and as a result, they were all labelled as representants of the same genre. In a way, this is in fact true. Both Oldfield's and Tangerine Dream's music was truly opening new paths towards until then uncharted territories in the field of popular music. But now, looking back, it is easy to see that their routes took them to very different destinations than, say, Yes or Genesis, and also using different methods.

Rubycon is Tangerine Dream's sixth album and their second to a major label - said major label being Virgin, sames as Oldfield's. Before its release, The West German group had been active for nearly eight years, and undergone several lineup changes. Even well known electronic music wizard Klaus Schulze was a member in 1969 and 1970, and performed on the group's debut album Electronic Meditation (1969).

But the true leader of the group has always been Edgar Froese, who was already there when the band was formed in West Berlin of 1967, and who continues to be the only founding member to have remained with the group. Tangerine Dreams's second and third albums, Alpha Centauri (1971) and Zeit (1972) continued to build their reputation as some of the most important members of the Krautrock movement, but it wasn't until their fourth album Atem (1973) that they made an international breakthrough.

Atem received some rave reviews also abroad, most importantly in the U.K. where Richard Branson saw the group's immense potential and signed them on to Virgin Records. As a result, they released their most higly praised recording, Phaedra (1974). And this is once again the point where I must part ways with the general opinion. While I cannot deny the undeniable power of Phaedra, I have never liked it best in Tangerine Dream's discography. It feels too sterile and distant to me. I have always preferred the next effort Rubycon, which to my mind is the only Tangerine Dream album that you absolutely must own - if you want to own any of them, that is.

Rubycon constists of two parts, one on each side of the vinyl release, each clocking just over 17 minutes, and is a masterpiece of early electronic ambient music. It is the pinnacle of the group's output: they had matured enough to produce truly memorable melodies and sound effects with the virtually pre-historic equipment they had available at the time, and still the end result is relatively easy to access, unlike Phaedra.

Tangerine Dream's "golden era" that had begun with Atem continued a couple of recordings onward - Ricochet (also 1975), Stratosfear (1976), Sorcerer (1977) - after which the quality of their music started to deteriorate. It was around the same time that the only other genius besides Froese in the group, Peter Baumann, departed and thus left a hole in the lineup that no successor was ever able to fill. By the early 1980's, half of the group's output had started sounding like elevator music; by the end of the 1980's, all of it did. The contract with Virgin expired, strangely enough, following the release of their best album in many years: Hyperborea (1983).

Tangerine Dream still exists in some form, but I would strongly urge not to seek out its recent output. Instead, simply concentrate on their 1970's recordings. In the 1980's, their most memorable works have been the already mentioned Hyperborea; the title tracks of both White Eagle (1982) and Underwater Sunlight (1986); and any film soundtracks they made during that decade. The rest is for completists only.

Very strong recommendation: Hergest Ridge (album), by MIKE OLDFIELD

Year: 1974
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 40 mins. 13 secs.
Spotify link (Part 1)
Spotify link (Part 2)
YouTube link (Excerpt from Part 1)

Following the immense success of his debut album Tubular Bells (1973), the humble and shy composer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield retreated to English countryside, obviously more than just a little scared of his unexpected success. While staying there, he composed and recorded his sophomore album, and I cannot resist comparing his situation to George A. Romero's zombie trilogy, even though in reality they have absolutely nothing in common.

The original Tubular Bells (like Night of the Living Dead) is the classic that everyone remembers and appreciates. But its follow-up Hergest Ridge (like Romero's Dawn of the Dead) is the vast improvement on the original, in terms of artistic quality.

When composing Tubular Bells, Oldfield was the first of his kind, creating a masterwork that had no similar predecessors. When composing Hergest Ridge, he had a predecessor, composed and performed by no one else but himself, which helped him achieve a clear vision of how to improve on it. And improve on it he did. Hergest Ridge is right up there with Beethoven's 5th and 9th Symphonies, among the greatest compositions ever created.

The instrumental work is divided into two separate movements, due to the restrictions of the vinyl LP. If one absolutely had to decide which movement is better than the other, one would probably have to choose the first one, even though the opening as well as the finale of the second part is certainly some of the most beautiful instumental music ever created.

Some time after the release of the album, problems arose. Oldfield himself came to the unexpected conclusion that the original mix had too many instruments and therefore felt too noisy and overarranged. He decided to create a new mix with less instruments. For any fan with any appreciation for musical genius, this was obviously an insane move but because of it, this far inferior mix was for a very long time the only mix available on CD. The only lucky ones were the ones who had bought the vinyl version, including myself. Except of course that they couldn't upgrade it to CD, which I did, not knowing that it contained a different mix. One of the least played CD's in my collection, to be sure.

This very, very unfortunate state persisted for years, even a couple of decades. It wasn't until 2010 that the original mix was finally released on CD, as a part of a Deluxe Edition that also contained other mixes of the album. Here is the new album cover that you can recognize the corrected version from:

So, when you want to hear this masterpiece in its original form, make sure that you either buy this CD and choose the "original 1974 stereo mixes", or check them out via Spotify links above. Music doesn't get much better than this!

Due to its "new age", straightforward nature, Hergest Ridge was disqualified from the top 20 long prog masterpieces list. Had this not been the case, both parts had made it to top 10, and Part 1 had most likely taken 3rd place from Starless, by King Crimson. But to be perfectly honest, this is not a progressive rock work, although at the time of its release it seemed to belong to the same genre.

Recommendation: Lydia (song), by PARADISE LOST

Album: One Second
Year: 1997
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 3 mins. 32 secs.
YouTube link (below average audio quality)

The sixth album by Paradise Lost, entitled One Second was released 15 years ago to the day, on 14 July 1997, so it seems more than fitting to celebrate one of the British group's most interesting songs today. The album was a departure for the group who had become known as makers of death and doom style metal. This time around they had taken a much more commercial approach to music making. This most certainly culminated in Soul Courageous, a straightforward pop song masquerading as hard rock that must be familiar to any rock/pop fan active at that time.

Hiding among the twelve melodic rock tracks leaning a bit towards the gothic, is one song that should catch even a prog fan's interest. Now I must immediately emphasize that track #3 on the album, Lydia most definitely isn't prog. But it has some interesting things going on that, in my opinion, make it remotely prog related. Not only does this make it my own personal favourite in the group's output, but might also be of interest to other prog fans.

Lydia is an exemplary piece of music making by any definition, but what really makes it stand out is its peculiar song structure. To begin with, you already have a very ominous, even slightly threatening, doom-laden atmosphere when you enter the song following a short instrumental introduction, which sounds almost monaural.

Through the searching lights that weave and dart
Comes the stranger that cares not for your heart
The pain of living life this way
Must take its toll on you some day

Lydia opens with verse and then proceeds to chorus. These two are repeated as you might expect a regular pop song to do, although this is anything but. The ominous lyrics are left hanging in the air after the repeat of the chorus, leaving the listener to expect a conclusion of some kind.

The frail skin that bleeds
Emotionally on guard

But instead of bridge, or another repeat of verse, what follows is an unexpected sequence that does repeat the verse but does so without lyrics. We have a cliffhanger. The second chorus has left the story kind of open and one is expecting it to continue. There must be a conclusion somewhere, even though it is unexpectedly delayed.

But alas, following the instumental version of the verse, there is a short sequence of screeching guitars, and an abrupt end. Nothing is ever concluded. Everything is left open. Rules of structuring a song are not observed. I love it.

Later on, Paradise Lost have started moving back towards a more metal sound, unlike, for example, their former colleagues Anathema. Many of their songs made in the 2000's have been very good, but I don't think they have ever surpassed this short and weird gem from 15 years ago.

Strong recommendation: Drag Ropes (song), by STORM CORROSION

Album: Storm Corrosion
Year: 2012
Country: United Kingdom / Sweden
Running time: 9 mins. 47 secs.
Spotify link
YouTube link

Now that we have the long prog masterpieces top 20 out of the way, let's start checking out some other prog songs and compositions well worth the fans' attention. I am starting a new article series where I recommend individual songs or entire albums that I think are worth any prog fan's while, be they actual prog or somehow related to the genre. I will let you know in the article itself, whether I think the song or album in question can be labelled as "genuine" progressive rock or if not, but is worth checking out anyway.

Recommendations come in three classes. Recommendation means that the piece of music getting written about is definitely worth a listen, should an opportunity to do so present itself. Strong recommendation, as is the case here, means that you should actively seek to hear the piece of music in question, as soon as it is convenient, instead of passively waiting for a chance to hear it. Very strong recommendation indicates that you should drop everything that you are doing right there and then, and start listening immediately after completing the reading of the article. This is usually helped by Spotify and/or YouTube links at the top of the page.

Drag Ropes, by Storm Corrosion is the only truly awesome new track I have happened to come across this year. It proves once again that imaginative and endlessly creative progressive rock is alive and well still today. Listening to it for the first time, via Prog'opolis podcast was a genuinely jaw-dropping experience.

Looking back, I think my astonishent was largely due to false expectations, although that doesn't make the track any less astounding. Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson had displayed a growing interest towards metal oriented prog for a while already, so when I heard about his collaboration with the frontman of the Swedish progressive metal group Opeth, Mikael Åkerfeldt, I naturally assumed that this was Wilson's chance to go really metal. And for this reason, I wasn't really looking forward to the album, not being a big fan of prog metal.

The resulting album Storm Corrosion however defied those expectations. It is a very interesting and complex, if slightly uneven prog rock album far removed from actual metal. Drag Ropes is its opening track, and it is easily the strongest song on the entire album. Only the closing track Ljudet Innan comes even close. But while the other songs between these are not quite on par with them, that doesn't mean that they aren't worth listening to. This is quality music by artists still in the height of their creativity and, in my opinion, a vast improvement to Wilson's last year's ambitious but hermetically sealed solo album Grace for Drowning, which was an ultimately disappointing listening experience.

The best thing about Drag Ropes is that, when listening to it, you are completely unable to second-guess the next direction it's going to take. This is prog rock at its very best: unstructured, unexpected and therefore all the more satisfying. I guess the biggest reason for my jaw dropping at the end was that I had been expecting the metal riffs to explode to the front, but even knowing that they won't be there, this is a difficult tune to start whistling afterwards.

Behind the YouTube link above there is a really nice video made to accompany the song, be sure to check it out. And if you hear of another prog rock track made in 2012 and sounding this good, or even better, be sure to let me know about it. I would be truly amazed to discover such a masterpiece.

Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces #1: Awaken, by YES

Album: Going for the One
Year: 1977
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 15 mins. 31 secs.
Spotify link
YouTube link

The album Going for the One by Yes has a special meaning for me. In the late 1977, I heard the title track of the album played in the radio a few times and it immediately caught my attention. The real turning point for me was 23 December of that same year, when I saw the band performing another track from the same album, Wonderous Stories, "live" in Finnish television.The clip is obviously a playback, as you can see right here. But anyway, this is the single moment that, at the age of fourteen, converted me into a progressive rock fanatic, which I still am and always will be.

At the time, it was kind of hard to be a fan of prog, or indeed any kind of rock music, in Finland. There was no internet, and therefore no Spotify or iTunes. There was no CD either. There were LP's, but I had no player, and little money to buy one. There were cassettes, for which we had a radio / cassette player in the house, but only with mono sound. I didn't have too much money to spend on cassettes, either. There was the radio, but most of the time they didn't play any modern music. A couple of times a week there was one half hour show, which is how I came to hear Going for the One in the first place.

In the spring of 1978, I had finally spared enough money from my weekly allowance to buy the original cassette of Going for the One the album, and after that there was no turning back. To this day, I still consider it the greatest album I have ever heard. Its closing track Awaken is the greatest long prog masterpiece ever made. Its title track would definitely be the greatest short prog masterpiece ever made, if I ever bothered to make a separate list for those, which I won't. Going for the One is the only song I have heard hundreds of times during my life that still gives me goosebumps almost every time.

For Yes, Going for the One meant a happy return for keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who had been absent for well over three years, concentrating on his solo career. During that time, Yes had made only one new studio album, Relayer (1974, see #9) with Wakeman's temporary replacement, Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz. When Wakeman returned, he did so with a renewed vigour and inspiration, and this can plainly be heard from the end result.

The group came together in late 1976 to start recording their new album, and did so in the unlikeliest of places. For a reason best known to band members themselves, they chose Switzerland. Possibly Moraz had some influence on that. The actual place where recording took place, was Mountain Studios, which at the time was located in Montreux (they have moved away since). Inside the album sleeve, there is even a photograph of the apparently happy prog band in a Swiss lakeside location. Montreux is located on the eastern shore of Lake Geneva.

For the magnificient closing track Awaken, as well as another track called Parallels, a church organ was needed. To be able to record its sound properly, Yes reserved a small church in a neighbouring town of Vevey, also on the lakeside, a short distance towards west by northwest, and transferred Wakeman's organ sequences using telephone wires to the studio in Montreux. This may not sound like much of an accomplishment today, but was quite a technical feat in early 1977.

And it is indeed Wakeman's church organ that gives character to Awaken, although he opens it with a piano solo that is in no way discernible from modern classical music. This kind of opening may already scare off some potential listeners, making the track sound even more challenging than it really turns out to be. Wakeman's performance with both the piano and the Vevey church organ is among the very best he ever performed as a member of Yes.

But in spite of that, Awaken is not solely Wakeman's tour de force. The greatness of the track partly lies in the fact that for once, Steve Howe's electric guitar is an equally strong presence, and no less significant. Howe does some of this best guitar work ever on Awaken. This is a departure from albums like Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973) where Wakeman's keyboards completely dominated The Remembering, and following that, Howe was given his own separate standout track The Ancient.

When on top of both Wakeman and Howe's exceptional performances the rest of the band is also working at its peak, and with truly considerable compositional inspiration, it is no wonder that the end result reached a classic status. By that, I naturally don't mean only the career of Yes, but the history of music in general. Awaken is the only completely flawless long prog masterpiece I could think of, and therefore the well deserving number 1 in our top 20.

Once again, commercial success followed, perhaps against the odds. Going for the One the album was hardly an easy listen, yet it made it all the way to #1 on the U.K. album charts and remained in the top 40 for 21 weeks. Wonderous Stories was a top 10 single hit which would have been unheard of only a few years earlier. On the U.S. Billboard Top 200 Chart, the album stayed for exactly the same duration of 21 weeks, and peaked at #8.

Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces #2: Milliontown, by FROST*

Album: Milliontown
Year: 2006
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 26 mins. 35 secs.
YouTube link

Did you ever notice how in the Bible whenever God needed to punish someone?
Make an example?
Or whenever God needed a killing?
He sent an angel.
Would you ever really want to see an angel?

Well, it's like I already wrote before (#18). Frost* is the absolute best new progressive rock band that I have come across in many, many years. And while their second album Experiments in Mass Appeal (2008) is a truly fine piece of work, it still pales in comparison with the powerhouse that was their debut. Released in the summer of 2006, there really are no weak tracks on Milliontown and strongest of them all is the title track which closes the album and runs for nearly half an hour.

Not only is Milliontown a real motherlode of continuous invention, it is also played by musicians that are masters of their instruments and the production values of the album are simply stupefying. I haven't heard a single album in that entire decade that sounded as good. On the debut album, band leader Jem Godfrey is particularly fond of big sounds and the way they were recorded cannot fail to impress, even if the music isn't to a listener's liking.

Like many other tracks in the top 20, Milliontown is also comprised of several movements. The first three of them use almost precisely the first half of its running time: the third movement (entitled The Only Survivors) ends at exactly 13 mins. and 16 secs. into the song. And this is a very important point. Until then, Milliontown has progressed like the very best symphonic prog song ever composed, performed and recorded. Nothing surpasses this first half, not even the upcoming #1 of this list.

Herein lies the song's only weakness that ultimately causes it to fall from the first place to the second. Frost* has played an impeccable prog masterwork and escalated it to a level so incredibly high that it becomes their own undoing. The beginning of the fourth movement brings us back down from prog heaven fast, and the band doesn't exactly know how to successfully tie it to the slightly pompous ending of the previous movement. And that's it. It takes them nearly two minutes to get back on track, but even then, nothing during the rest of the song really feels quite like its first half.

Milliontown's only flaw is that it peaks too early.

Later on, Frost* catches up the speed once again and the instrumental sequence that almost closes the track is once again magnificient. Following the just about perfect ending, a weird thing however happens. There is a silence that lasts approximately 20 seconds, after which there follows a short epilogue played with a piano. This is another slight flaw in the song. I have never understood why this epilogue was necessary. It's not bad, but it's not really needed either. Is this supposed to be a minute and a half long "hidden track" at the end of the album that is not even meant to be a part of Milliontown the song?

These almost meaningless imperfections notwithstanding, Milliontown is the most perfect piece of music that mankind has ever been able to produce. You can imagine my astonishment when, escaping the awfulness of the Eurovision Song Contest finals in the evening of 16 May 2009, I followed Apple's iTunes Genius Recommendation to check this album out and then spent an evening of listening to it with my headphones on, in an ecstatic state to say the least.

While it may be Jem Godfrey who has fathered Frost* and is the person to mostly thank for this incredible album as well as song, I once again want to emphasize that the musicianship on the album is also of the very highest order. John Mitchell must be one of the best guitar players working today, and Milliontown gives him ample opportunities to prove just that. Similarly, Andy Edwards is one of the three best drummers I know of, right up there with Terry Bozzio and Neil Peart.

So, Jem, please! Try to get the third Frost* album done as soon as you can and when you do, please give John and Andy their deserved chances to shine like they do on Milliontown! I trust you to include the new #1 top 20 long prog masterpiece on that forthcoming album! For now, you will have to do with the second place.

Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces #3: Starless, by KING CRIMSON

Album: Red
Year: 1974
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 12 mins. 19 secs.
YouTube link

Had this top 20 been voted for by a large number of prog fans instead of only myself, I believe the most likely #1 would have been one of two alternatives. One of them is Close to the Edge, by Yes, which I have dared to place sixth. I think it would have been the less likely winner in a general poll as well. The more likely winner would have been Starless, by King Crimson, which I have dared to place third.

Starless seems to be almost everyone's favourite prog song, probably because it allows easy access to prog also to the fans of hard rock leaning a bit towards heavy metal. It doesn't have the ethereal quality of, say, Close to the Edge which might seem a bit too whimsical to many straight rock fans. Starless has immense, undeniable power. It contains very strong notes and riffs. It represents masculinity in a genre that, in general, seem to savor feminine traits. To put it shortly, it kicks ass in a way few prog songs do.

I have no problem admitting that Starless is an extremely powerful piece of music that can easily leave the listener stunned and speechless, and is definitely one of the best of its kind ever made. Why the third place, then?

When compiling the top 20, I listened to my favourite long prog pieces over and over again. As a result of repeated listening, I came to realise that, while my top 3 songs were almost equally great, I was able to point out one flaw in Starless. A very, very minor one, but a flaw nonetheless. The same thing applied to #2, which we will get to soon enough. But I couldn't find a single flaw, not even a minor one, in my third winner candidate which has now ascertained its place as #1.

Starless is the closing track of Red, which in turn is the closing album of the trilogy recorded by the Fripp - Wetton - Bruford incarnation of King Crimson (1973 - 1974). The opening track of the first album of said trilogy, Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part 1 was already discussed a while ago (#10). The middle album of the trilogy, Starless and Bible Black is a forgettable affair, with no standouts on its track list.

Red, on the other hand, is one of the most highly appreciated albums by King Crimson, right up there with the group's classic debut In the Court of the Crimson King (1969). Starless is not the only outstanding track on it: both the instrumental title track and Fallen Angel are fan favourites. Overall, we are talking about an album of exceptional quality. Sad, then, that Fripp decided to disband King Crimson in its wake. The group didn't return until 1981, with the vastly inferior album Discipline, performed by a vastly inferior lineup.

Starless begins with a beautiful melody played with mellotron, guitar, bass and drums, and sung by Wetton with a genuine feeling as only he knows how. This introduction occupies only approximately three minutes, after which we face the track's real challenge. The beautiful theme is replaced with Fripp's guitar playing a theme that soon starts to sound a bit repetitive. But slowly, it keeps on building and ascending, while Wetton's bass and Bruford's percussion begin to accompany it with increasing presence and volume.

This phase uses several minutes: the slowly building guitar theme, with bass and percussion background growing ever more forceful, until it is finally time to up the ante with a fast, jazz influenced sequence that has some fine saxophone work by guest musicians Mel Collins (soprano) and Ian McDonald (alto). When the song has ascended to new heights unimaginable at the beginning, it is then suddenly closed by the opening theme which now receives a whole new meaning when played in high volume and new strength. The song reaches an incredibly strong climax and then ends.

It is this contrast between the mellowly played and sung, beautiful opening theme, and its aggressive, extremely powerful instrumental repeat at the end that gives Starless its strength. When listening to the last minute of the track, you kind of relive the beautiful opening in a totally different context, and cannot help being overwhelmed by the masterful handling of the theme in its two vastly different forms.

The very, very minor flaw of Starless that I referred to earlier, is the repetitive quality of Fripp's guitar work in between the opening and closing sections. One cannot help thinking that Starless would have been an even stronger track had the middle section been a little shorter and less repetitive - and as such, ineligible for the top 20. This is a minor complaint but, at the great masterpiece level we have now entered, significant enough to determine the difference between #1, #2 and #3 of all time.

Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces #4: Poisoned Youth, by ENGLAND

Album: Garden Shed
Year: 1977
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 16 mins. 18 secs.
YouTube link (Part 1)
YouTube link (Part 2)

England is the ultimate fairy tale in progressive rock genre. They came from nowhere! They made one single great album! They disappeared! The album in question is Garden Shed (1977) and the fourth best progressive rock epic of all time is its closing track Poisoned Youth which doesn't quite fill an entire side of a vinyl disc, but clocks well over 16 minutes in any case.

England was: Robert Webb, keyboards and vocals; Martin Henderson, bass and vocals; Jode Leigh, percussion, bass and vocals; and Frank Holland, guitar and vocals. At around the time of their debut album's release, they were briefly the cause of some conspiracy theories. How can a new progressive rock group be so perfect on their first release? It was even suspected that they must in truth be seasoned prog veterans working under pseudonyms.

But no, they really were a new group that had simply been influenced by Genesis and Yes, and amalgamated these influences into an exceptional debut album. There was no conspiracy. And England's true masterstroke, Poisoned Youth was easily the best single progressive rock epic on a debut album of that whole decade. One of the best ever, as it turns out. Come on, it even ends to an explosion! What could be more epic than that?

A good comparison to England would be another group with a similar name: U.K (#14). In a very similar manner, England's prog is very keyboard-driven, although they never had Eddie Jobson's violin to complement the keyboards. Poisoned Youth, as well as their other songs, emphasize melody over other aspects of a composition, and as melody makers they were really, really good. The worst that can be said about England is that they were not very original, which is certainly true, but like I've written before, I absolutely prefer an artist that does the old thing exceptionally well to another that does a new thing with an average end result.

Poisoned Youth is comprised of several movements even though this is not stated on the album cover. Doesn't matter: there is hardly a single uninteresting moment as a debuting group displays endless invention, each individual sequence being at least worthy of the previous one, if not better. This makes you think that maybe England made a smart choice in completing only one album: it already was the one where their talents peaked. Any sequel to Garden Shed would inevitably have been a disappointment.

While the different passages of Poisoned Youth continue a single storyline about an artist's search to preserve and forever maintain his youth, they vary from each other. At times, the composition sounds even like a children's song. Its most striking weakness are the poor production values which are understandable for a starting rock group. Poisoned Youth is one of the weakest sounding tracks in the top 20 in terms of sound quality.

But it is Poisoned Youth's strong points that carry it all the way to #4. Poisoned Youth is a reminder to all beginning musicians that their first inspiration may already be enough to produce a masterwork, and an encouragement to try to reach for no less than that. If you know exactly what you are striving for and know how to achieve it, you can beat many a seasoned veteran in their own game. You don't have to have all the technical skill as long as you have a strong vision, and an endless need to invent, create and excel.

Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces #5: A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers, by VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR

Album: Pawn Hearts
Year: 1971
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 23 mins. 8 secs.
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Formed in Manchester, England in 1967, Van der Graaf Generator has always been personified by its leader, poet and singer (in this order) Peter Hammill, who is also the only founding member to have stayed in the group for more than a year or two. The other key members are Hugh Banton, organ and bass guitar; Guy Evans, drums; and David Jackson, saxophone and flute.

This lineup was already in place on the group's second album The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other (1970), although at that time there was also a fifth member, Nic Potter who played bass while Banton fully concentrated on his organ. Potter left, and the four-member dream team recorded H to He, Who Am the Only One (also 1970) which already gave a clear indication that something great was going to come out of this group.

Still, nothing really prepared audiences for the powerhouse fourth album Pawn Hearts (1971), which was a stunning achievement in symphonic prog, and a couple of steps more challenging than your average Yes or Genesis albums.The first classic on the album is its opening track, about 10-minute Lemmings, but the real goldmine is to be found on the vinyl's B side: A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers, a 23-minute masterpiece in several movements, playing styles and time signatures.

Van der Graaf Generator was always more alienating than "regular" symphonic prog groups to your average listener because of its choice of instrumentation. There was really no lead guitarist, although Hammill did play guitar occasionally. Also, there were really no other keyboards than Banton's trusty organ. This left us with Hammill's raw, throaty voice (when it came to singing, the man was no Jon Anderson) combined with drums, organ and Jackson's saxophone playing where lead guitar would normally play. The end result was truly in a league of its own. Saxophone gave Van der Graaf Generator a jazzy sound texture by itself, and it was emphasized by their obvious jazz influences, especially when it came to the use of constantly changing rhythm patterns.

A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers is a masterpiece that exemplifies everything that was always great about Van der Graaf Generator. It begins with an easy, beautiful section called Eyewitness which invites the listener into believing that he or she is about to hear a "normal" symphonic prog composition. This is followed by an excellent, quiet instrumental sequence which reproduces a coastal soundscape with the use of musical instruments: Jackson's saxophone sounds like a foghorn, Evans' percussion imitates a ship's motor starting to run, wind instruments are used for the sound of seagulls, etc.

Things get progressively more complex as tempo intensifies and Hammill's voice develops from quiet and peaceful to noisy and aggressive. Instrumentation intensifies, and time signatures start to vary. The plot really thickens in sections The Clot Thickens and Land's End, where you can hear influences from free jazz and where you need a Doctor's degree in music to be able to determine the time signatures - which themselves keep changing during the track!

Close to the end, the music gradually descends into total cacophony, and it is therefore a big relief to the listener when the last section We Go Now begins with a beautiful piano melody and Hammill's singing is once again more restrained and melodic. This brings the unforgettable piece to a moving climax.

It was fairly obvious that after accomplishing something like this, Van der Graaf Generator had nowhere left to go. How could you top something like Pawn Hearts, and more specifically, the 23-minute masterpiece that closed it? To solve this problem, Hammill decided to leave the group in order to fully concentrate on his solo career.

The departure took place on amicable terms, so when Hammill decided to give another try to working as a member of Van der Graaf Generator, there was no problem with rejoining. Hammill, Banton, Jackson and Evans returned to the studio only to emerge with another, albeit very different, masterwork called Godbluff (1975). Their story continues to this very day, although there have been again long periods of silence, and David Jackson is no longer part of the group that released their very latest recording less than two weeks ago.

Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces #6: Close to the Edge, by YES

Album: Close to the Edge
Year: 1972
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 18 mins. 40 secs.
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Had this top 20 been voted for by a large number of prog fans instead of only myself, I believe the most likely #1 would have been one of two alternatives. One of them is Close to the Edge, by Yes, which I have dared to place sixth. I think it would have been the less likely winner in a general poll as well. The more likely poll winner, then... we'll come back to it a little higher on the list, so please be patient. But if you are an enlightened progressive rock fan, you can probably guess which song by which artist or group I am referring to.

The fourth and fifth studio album by Yes, both released in 1972, seem to be widely considered their greatest works. The earlier one, Fragile is a collection of shorter songs, although it is concluded with Heart of the Sunrise which is over ten minutes long. Close to the Edge, on the other hand, employs solely the longer format. Side A of the vinyl release contains the nearly 19-minute title track, and side B has two approximately 10-minute songs - much the same way as Relayer (1974) did later on.

Once again, a progressive composition ends the same way it began: in this case, with sound effects from nature. We hear a river running and birds singing. This sets up a special, peaceful and lyrical mood for the song itself. According to singer Jon Anderson, Close to the Edge the song is based on the book Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse and is about spiritual awakening.

Composition-wise, Close to the Edge is close to perfection. Yes is working at the peak of their talents and can both create unforgettable melodies and also play them in virtuoso fashion in spite of the complicatedness of some of its passages. Yet the group's perfection doesn't seem sterile or alienating to the listener. Like on Fragile, Yes is still a rock band at heart and Close to the Edge sounds like most of it could be played in a club in front of a cheering crowd.

The most important exception to this is Rick Wakeman's church organ that would feel out of place in a club. About two thirds of the composition in, he performs probably the most memorable organ sequence in any Yes album. Wakeman's keyboards have an exceptionally strong presence on this track in particular.

This turned out the be the last album with the five key members present. The people who belonged to this dream team were, in addition to Anderson and Wakeman, guitarist Steve Howe, bass guitarist Chris Squire and drummer Bill Bruford. Soon after completing Close to the Edge, Bruford left the group to join King Crimson (see #10). Following the next studio album Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Wakeman left as well.

Close to the Edge remains a towering achievement and pinnacle of the Bruford-era Yes, showing for once what amazing results a progressive rock group can achieve at the height of their creativity. The album has enjoyed immense popularity among prog fans and many select it to be the best prog album ever made. This is in no small measure due to its title track. Here you can find one such poll, where Close to the Edge the album is holding the first place at the time of this writing: ProgArchives Top Prog Albums

Top 20 Long Prog Masterpieces #7: Lizard, by KING CRIMSON

Album: Lizard
Year: 1970
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 23 mins. 17 secs.
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I guess I belong to a small minority. The third album by King Crimson has always been my favourite. Lizard was recorded by a short-lived incarnation of the group that never even had time to perform live, before Robert Fripp once again made significant personnel changes. This is the only album to feature Gordon Haskell as the singer, and maybe more importantly, the only album where the group's music was about 50 % jazz and only 50 % prog. Strange then, that I should like this album, having never been a fan of jazz.

Lizard also contains the longest non-improvised song ever recorded by King Crimson. The song in question is the 23-minute title track which is also the subject of this article. It fills the entire B side of the vinyl version. I have never understood why its title is Lizard. There is a distinct storyline that is told not only by lyrics but also, crucially by music itself (we'll get to that in a bit), and it has nothing to do with tiny, cute reptiles. Instead, it tells a medieval tale of a prince, and his last battle.

Before we get into the song and the story it tells, let's have a quick look at the cover art. Lizard has one of the most beautifully crafted album covers I have ever seen. Above, you can see the front cover, which spells "Crimson", with small drawings under and around each letter. The reason for it spelling only "Crimson" is that the back cover spells "King" in a similar fashion. Here's how the cover looks when opened; this applies to both the vinyl album and CD covers:

Under the letter M, you can see our hero Prince Rupert, on his brown horse, riding alongside Death whose horse is white. On the back cover, under the big K, you can see Prince Rupert's last battle getting started. The pictures under the other letters also refer to songs on the album. And now, on to Lizard.

The first movement, Prince Rupert Awakes, is a pretty song with a catching melody. It is sung by a guest star: Jon Anderson of Yes. The second movement, Bolero is an instrumental piece that is comprised of jazzy variations on a theme which are interesting but not really great. The greatness of the track is revealed following the conclusion of Bolero.

The third movement, The Battle of Glass Tears, describes Prince Rupert's last battle in three subsections. First, we get an astonishing, very ominous introduction by guest musician Robin Miller who plays cor anglais at a low volume. Next, Gordon Haskell gives his only vocal performance on this track, describing the preparations of the battle. And that's it for the lyrics. The story of the battle itself and its aftermath is told to the listener using musical instruments only, wherein lies the true genius of Lizard.

The second subsection is a rather noisy and extremely restless instrumental that describes a bloody battle in, once again, a jazz influenced instrumentation and playing style. This is followed by the last subsection where King Crimson's genius really shines. Backed by a slow percussion theme reminiscent of a funeral procession, Fripp makes his electric guitar wail, implying that Prince Rupert has been mortally wounded and is fighting a losing battle for his life. This is more or less confirmed by the title of this subsection, which is Prince Rupert's Lament.

That part alone was more than enough to leave the listener speechless, but there is still more to follow. This is the point where I have to stop trying to tell what happens. The final 65 seconds of Lizard are beyond my ability to describe. Suffice to say that King Crimson finds a way to picture not only a person's death, but also possibly an afterlife of some kind, without a word spoken or sung, simply by means of music. Every time I hear the finale of Lizard, I am in awe. So should everyone.