UK

In 1978, most of the big names in progressive rock were either gone from the scene, or had diluted their sound into sometrhing barely palatable to their fans. And the recording industry and the journalists who fed off them loved this.

Then something strange happened. A quartet of prog veterans, Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, Eddie Jobson and John Wetton came together in this band, UK, and suddenly, for a short time, it was cool to play interesting music again. The music press, still wallowing in the depths of punk and disco, actually praised this band, and for the last time for the next few decades, gave accolades to a prog band.

And it was well deserved. The album is spectacular, and still one of the finest prog albums ever released. The music is a combination of symphonic prog and the energized fusion that Bruford and Holdsworth would continue in the drummer's band that followed. Every track on this album is exciting and complex, and wonderful.

And for a brief moment all was well in the world.