(In Absentia, 2002)
Like .3 that started our previous blog entry, Wedding Nails is also another somehow ominous instrumental track from Porcupine Tree's 2002 masterpiece In Absentia. It perfectly exemplifies the harder rocking sound that the group introduced on that album: guitars and drums are aggressively brought to the front of the soundscape, creating an excellent progressive rock track.
119. Two Against Nature, by Steely Dan
(Two Against Nature, 2000)
After releasing Gaucho in 1980, Steely Dan seemed to have nowhere to go. Perfect sonic sterility they had looked for had been achieved. The next album didn't come out until a full 20 years later. The title track of Two Against Nature is simply irresistible with is complicated drum pattern and enjoyable, self referential lyrics. Nothing to do with progressive rock but excellent musicianship of another kind.
118. Green Grass of Tunnel, by Múm
(Finally We Are No One, 2002)
A third consecutive track from the same period in time, Green Grass of Tunnel was at one point one of our favorites and probably in the top 30 then. The Icelandic group has a childlike approach to both their album covers and music itself. Many of their compositions are instrumental but this one is an exception: a song with actual lyrics that would however work as well without them.
117. B.Y.O.B, by System of a Down
(Mezmerize, 2005)
The next track couldn't possibly be more different than B.Y.O.B. is from the naive and simple sounding songs of Múm. The hard rocking Armenian Americans System of a Down really know how to combine extreme metal riffs with melody driven passages. In this song from their 2005 album they truly outdo themselves. Shame, then, that there would be only one more album from the group before their inevitable disbanding.
116. Time Out from the World, by Goldfrapp
(Supernature, 2005)
The British duo Goldfrapp appears on our list for the first time. In essence, they are a pop group leaning towards electronica, but particularly on their later albums they have proved to be much more ambitious than most. Time Out from the World appears on their third album; they have released another three since. It is an exceptionally beautiful pop song that never fails to move us.
115. Three Fact Fader, by Engineers
(Three Fact Fader, 2009)
So, here we have already the sixth consecutive 2000's song release. The title track of Engineers' excellent second full length studio album has reached a surprisingly high position on the list, considering it isn't really in our top three from that album, let alone from the group's entire output. Yet it is a perfectly fine art rock / pop track and a good way to introduce newcomers to their sound and style.
114. Underneath the Waves, by Strapping Young Lad
(City, 1997)
So here it is, then: the greatest metal track that we know of. If you know of one that is greater, you are welcome to let us know. On the album City, Underneath the Waves immediately follows AAA that we already discussed (#146). Played back to back, these two deliver one hell of a ten minute nirvana of extreme metal. And to think we found these tracks only about a year ago, yet they have already climbed this high!
113. Remember Us, by The Pineapple Thief
(Variations on a Dream, 2003)
At approximately 16 minutes, Remember Us is one of The Pineapple Thief's longer creations. It closes their 2003 album Variations on a Dream and is to our understanding dedicated to the victims of 9/11. It is an exceptionally downbeat and mournful song in the group's catalogue, but there is something grand about the way its sadness is combined to magnificent beauty.
112. Trains, by Porcupine Tree
(In Absentia, 2002)
In Absentia seems to have become a regular visitor on our list. So far, we have had Heart Attack in a Lay by (#201), .3 (#140), Wedding Nails (#120) and now this. While this may seem a bit repetitive, we need to point out that the album is a towering achievement in not only 2000's releases but progressive rock in general. Trains is a lovely song with no hard rock or metal riffs that are otherwise frequent on In Absentia.
111. Main Title from Quake, by Nine Inch Nails
(Quake, 1996)
Quake is not an album but a well known first person shoot-'em-up video game from id Software; their more realistic looking follow up to the classic Doom games. Guess who composed the music for the game? Fresh off the classic The Downward Spiral (1994), Nine Inch Nails composed a soundtrack that mostly belongs to the dark ambient genre. The opening track however has some industrial NIN aggressiveness to it.
110. An Inmate's Lullaby, by Gentle Giant
(In a Glass House, 1973)
This surprising appearance of progressive rock cult band Gentle Giant this far high on the list is explained by the fact that we at ProgActive never owned the vinyl version of the album In a Glass House and the CD took a really long time becoming available. When it was released we purchased it and this beautiful ballad is our favorite song on it. Hence, it got a lot of playtime after April, 2006.
109. Meridian Moorland, by Peter Baumann
(Trans Harmonic Nights, 1979)
The German electronic music composer Peter Baumann was a member of Tangerine Dream during that group's golden era. Following his departure in 1977, he released his second solo album Trans Harmonic Nights which contains this masterpiece and also some other really good compositions. In this instrumental work, Baumann expertly creates an ominous atmosphere using only electronic instrumentation.
108. Felt Mountain, by Goldfrapp
(Felt Mountain, 2000)
The title track of Goldfrapp's debut album is what initially made us interested in the British duo we already mentioned only eight places further down (#116). Felt Mountain is a mostly instrumental track with some synthesized vocal work by singer Alison Goldfrapp, like the rest of the album. We think it can be called a modern art pop masterpiece. The duo is likely to appear again further up on the list.
107. Inner Silence, by Anathema
(Hindsight, 2008)
This beautiful song is a new version of the original one, created specifically for the 2008 album Hindsight. There, the group re-recorded their earlier songs as new, in many cases more mellow versions. In this case, the original track that had been released a decade earlier was not that much different but anyway, it is the new version that we have played over and over again.
106. I Drew a Final Breath in the Dream, by Maju
(Maju-2, 2000)
Maju is a Japanese electronic music group from Tokyo. They have stated that their mission is to use music for describing what it is like to live there. They have named their albums very simply: Maju-1, Maju-2, Maju-3, etc. This second album of theirs came out in 2000 and contains several excellent compositions. Maju is guaranteed to reappear in the top 100, probably quite far up.
105. The Sky Moves Sideways, Phase 1, by Porcupine Tree
(The Sky Moves Sideways, 1995)
Essentially still a solo work by Steven Wilson, the long opening track of Porcupine Tree's 1995 album The Sky Moves Sideways always marked the point where PT started seeming destined for greatness. The previous albums had been interesting, sure, but it wasn't until we heard Phase 1 that we were convinced that Wilson was taking progressive rock seriously and was going to be a major player in that field. Of course, that was exactly what he became.
104. She Reminds Me of You, by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
(The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, 2011)
This recent instrumental from a major Hollywood film has received a surprisingly high position on the list. Following their Oscar win for The Social Network (2010), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross had really no chance to repeat that feat, and true enough: the soundtrack to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo hardly matches its brilliant predecessor. But it does have its great moments, and this is one of them.
103. Collapse the Light into Earth, by Porcupine Tree
(In Absentia, 2002)
So we are back to In Absentia; for the third time in this blog entry, and for the fourth overall. This stunningly beautiful song is its closing track: one of the greatest musical achievements of the entire decade. There are probably a couple of more tracks from this album in the top 100, but other than that, the album suffers from coming out a bit too early in relation with our start date of April, 2006.
102. All That's Left, by Spock's Beard
(Spock's Beard, 2006)
Finally, two more relatively recent entries will complete this blog entry. We already had one track from Spock's Beard's self titled 2006 album on the list: Stream of Unconsciousness (#131). This one is a non-progressive, beautiful song about lost love that we couldn't help but love back when the album came out. We would anticipate at least one, or perhaps two additional entries from this album in the top 100.
101. Kingdom, by Dave Gahan
(Hourglass, 2007)
Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan released his second solo album Hourglass in October 2007, and it still remains his most recent one. He proved to have overtaken DM when it came to songwriting quality. Kingdom is catchy as hell, and also benefits from high production values especially when it comes to percussion sound. The drum beat is simply irresistible and the song itself one of the greatest pop tracks of 2007.
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