Digital Dream Door: Top 100 Progressive Rock Songs

Before you skip over this opening statement to look at the list (many of you probably have already), know that none of this is set yet. Digitaldreamdoor.com had a spurt of activity in the Prog section of the forum. But that has waned, so I turned to you guys. I want this list to happen. I was left with ownership over the list after the previous man grew tired of it (due to lack of interest), so I’m doing my best to get this project done.

The criteria are (only subject to Progressive Rock, not Rock in general) influence, acclaim, musical impact, and technical uniqueness. The lattermost subject of criteria is the least impacting (since it’s rather vague and the most subjective topic in the first place).

There are also some hidden factors. Album representation is one, such as avoiding putting too many songs from one album. Similar concept for artists, not putting too many songs by one band (like digitaldreamdoor’s metal list having 10+ Black Sabbath songs). Concept albums were a tricky decision, along with highly acclaimed albums with no clearly prominent track (i.e. excelling more than the others in the criteria; e.g. The Snow Goose). So certain albums are represented by a single track, while other albums, unfortunately, are left alone. They more than likely belong in the greatest albums list though!

The other hidden factor is subgenre representation/balance. Obviously 70’s symphonic groups would dominate the list, but others deserve equal representation. So far I have mostly neglected the Post-Rock and Math-Rock scenes. Some other Prog Metal songs could be necessary additions, too..

Without further ado..

 

The Top 100 Progressive Rock Songs

• 1. The Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson
• 2. Close to the Edge - Yes
• 3. Supper’s Ready - Genesis
• 4. Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull
• 5. 21^st Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson
• 6. Echoes - Pink Floyd
• 7. 2112 - Rush
• 8. Karn Evil 9 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
• 9. Firth of Fifth - Genesis
• 10. Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd
• 11. Peaches en Regalia - Frank Zappa
• 12. Tarkus - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
• 13. A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers - Van der Graaf Generator
• 14. Meeting of the Spirits - Mahavishnu Orchestra
• 15. Nights in White Satin - Moody Blues
• 16. The Gates of Delirium - Yes
• 17. Metropolis - Dream Theater
• 18. Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield
• 19. YYZ - Rush
• 20. Autobahn - Kraftwerk
• 21. Dancing with the Moonlit Knight - Genesis
• 22. Time - Pink Floyd
• 23. Starless - King Crimson
• 24. Script for a Jester’s Tear - Marillion
• 25. Nine Feet Underground - Caravan
• 26. Yours Is No Disgrace - Yes
• 27. Knots - Gentle Giant
• 28. L’Evoluzione - Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
• 29. Song of Scheherazade - Renaissance
• 30. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic - King Crimson
• 31. Phaedra - Tangerine Dream
• 32. Heart of the Sunrise - Yes
• 33. Lady Fantasy - Camel
• 34. Appena Un Po’ - Premiata Forneria Marconi
• 35. La Villa Strangiato - Rush
• 36. In a Silent Way - Miles Davis
• 37. A Louse Is Not a Home - Peter Hammill
• 38. Epitaph - King Crimson
• 39. Mëkanïk Kömmandöh - Magma
• 40. Roundabout - Yes
• 41. Magnum Opus - Kansas
• 42. Birds of Fire - Mahavishnu Orchestra
• 43. Dogs - Pink Floyd
• 44. The Sleepwalkers - Van der Graaf Generator
• 45. The Musical Box - Genesis
• 46. Phallus Dei - Amon Düül II
• 47. A Change of Seasons - Dream Theater
• 48. Watcher of the Skies - Genesis
• 49. Moon in June - Soft Machine
• 50. In a Glass House - Gentle Giant
• 51. Shadow of the Hierophant - Steve Hackett
• 52. Stratus - Billy Cobham
• 53. Pull Me Under - Dream Theater
• 54. Zarathustra - Museo Rosenbach
• 55. Lemmings - Van der Graaf Generator
• 56. Jordrök - Änglagård
• 57. Halleluhwah - Can
• 58. Arriving Somewhere but Not Here - Porcupine Tree
• 59. Histoires Sans Paroles - Harmonium
• 60. Hocus Pocus - Focus
• 61. Lateralus - Tool
• 62. Master Builder - Gong
• 63. Kobaïa - Magma
• 64. Xanadu - Rush
• 65. Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant - Return to Forever
• 66. New World - Strawbs
• 67. Lunar Sea - Camel
• 68. Hallogallo - Neu!
• 69. Assault and Battery/The Golden Void - Hawkwind
• 70. And You and I - Yes
• 71. Poseidon’s Creation - Eloy
• 72. Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres - Rush
• 73. One More Red Nightmare - King Crimson
• 74. Widow’s Peak - IQ
• 75. Blackwater Park - Opeth
• 76. Stardust We Are - Flower Kings
• 77. Ommadawn - Mike Oldfield
• 78. Hair Pie: Bake 1 & 2 - Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
• 79. Mumps - Hatfield and the North
• 80. Harvest of Souls - IQ
• 81. Jurassic Shift - Ozric Tentacles
• 82. Suite Sister Mary - Queensrÿche
• 83. Blackest Eyes - Porcupine Tree
• 84. Drip Drip - Comus
• 85. The Hanging Tree - Arena
• 86. Beyond the Pale - Pain of Salvation
• 87. July Morning - Uriah Heep
• 88. Flight Over Rio - Al Di Meola
• 89. Son et Lumiere/Inertiatic ESP - Mars Volta
• 90. The Light - Spock’s Beard
• 91. Opening Move - Gryphon
• 92. Sea Song - Robert Wyatt
• 93. All of the Above - Transatlantic
• 94. The Rainbow - Talk Talk
• 95. Man-Erg - Van der Graaf Generator
• 96. Amygdala - Henry Cow
• 97. Impressioni Di Settembre - Premiata Forneria Marconi
• 98. Último Entardecer - Bacamarte
• 99. Ronde - Univers Zero
• 100. Krautrock - Faust 

Obviously some people won’t be satisfied with the list or specific things about it. That’s why I’ve an on-hold list of songs that barely missed the cut or weren’t considered heavily. Well, this is a big collaborative effort. If anyone would like to argue for any of these songs’ inclusion, be my guest.

Notable songs/albums/artists left out (or “on hold”):

• Anathema
• Area
• Ash Ra Tempel
• Ayreon
• “Canto Nomade Per Un Prigioneiro Politico” - Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
• Brian Eno
• Bubu
• “Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider” - Camel
• Camel’s The Snow Goose
• “Oh Yeah” - Can
• Cardiacs
• Death
• Devin Townsend
• Discipline
• “Home” - Dream Theater
• “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence” - Dream Theater
• Edge of Sanity
• Egg
• ELP’s debut album
• “Toccata” - Emerson, Lake, & Palmer
• “Inca Roads” - Frank Zappa
• “Cinema Show” - Genesis
• Genesis’s The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
• “Return of the Giant Hogweed” - Genesis
• Gentle Giant’s Acquiring the Taste
• “The Advent of Panurge” - Gentle Giant
• Goblin
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor
• “Flying Teapot” - Gong
• “You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever” - Gong
• Herbie Hancock
• Jethro Tull’s Aqualung
• Kayo Dot
• Khan’s Space Shanty
• King Crimson’s Discipline
• “I Talk to the Wind” - King Crimson
• King Crimson’s In the Wake of Poseidon
• “Moonchild” - King Crimson
• “Red” - King Crimson
• Klaus Schulze
• Le Orme
• Los Jaivas
• Marillion’s Brave
• “Forgotten Sons” - Marillion
• “The Great Escape” - Marillion
• Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood
• Maudlin of the Well
• National Health
• Neal Morse
• “Song for the Bearded Lady” - Nucleus
• Opeth’s Still Life
• Pain of Salvation’s The Perfect Element
• Peter Gabriel
• “Brain Damage/Eclipse” - Pink Floyd
• “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” - Pink Floyd
• “Sheep” - Pink Floyd
• “Us and Them” - Pink Floyd
• “Welcome to the Machine” - Pink Floyd
• Popol Vuh
• “Anesthetize” - Porcupine Tree
• Procol Harum
• Psychotic Waltz
• Riverside
• “Cygnus X-1” - Rush
• “Tom Sawyer” - Rush
• SBB
• Sigur Rós
• Steve Hackett’s Spectral Mornings
• Steve Hillage
• Supertramp
• Symphony X
• “Djed” - Tortoise
• Traffic
• Transatlantic’s Bridge Across Forever
• “The Undercover Man” - Van der Graaf Generator
• Vovoid
• “Awaken” - Yes
• “The Revealing Science of God” - Yes
• “Starship Trooper” - Yes

Dang. Tons of great music. It’s a shame there’s only 100 spots on this list.

Other reasonable suggestions are welcome. Not proto- or prog-related artists. The guy working on this list before me had put The Who and The Beatles songs in the top 30. Progressive Rock is broad enough that we don’t need to include any precursors or non-Prog artists that did something that could qualify as “Progressive music”.

Great list actually! Very similar to my tastes, and the first few odder songs I've thought of suggesting are already up there  (Sea Song, Appena Un Po', Histoires Sans Paroles). Something like "Proclamation" deserves a place on the list - very intricate and certainly progressive. I'll see if I can think of any more

Xonty wrote: Great list actually! Very similar to my tastes, and the first few odder songs I've thought of suggesting are already up there  (Sea Song, Appena Un Po', Histoires Sans Paroles). Something like "Proclamation" deserves a place on the list - very intricate and certainly progressive. I'll see if I can think of any more

Thank you! I've thought with such a thorough discography, Gentle Giant could have more than 2 songs on this list. They deserve it, IMO. Only we'd have to boot something else off. Hmm.....

I've skimmed the list and the substitutes and it looks good. A few suggestions

Edited by richardh - July 07 2014 at 01:40

^ Epitaph although a very beautiful track was still stuck a little bit in that sixties anti war hippy thing while Schizoid Man and In The Court were totally revolutionary and  more 'progressive' so I think you have this right in your mind.

Kayak - Merlin

Just on the subject of Rick Wakeman I'm sure Judas Iscariot should be in the list. In can be down somewhere say 80-100 but it should be there. It is a standout track that does not feel part of anything else he did including even the album it comes from - Criminal Record. It sums him up very well though.

I do my best

OK, I may miss a few things, for the list is long, and of course this are my personal preferences. And in general I think it's a very good list.

- Some songs are not clear which parts, if only some or all, are suposed to be considered, such as with Thick as a Brick and Shine On you Crazy Diamond.
- I'm not sure "Nights in White Satin" would be prog enough to be considered in this list, since bands as The Beatles were left out (and rightfully so, I think) for being proto-prog and not prog.
- Also, I'm not sure Uriah Heep is right to be included... though I must confess I don't know the song you listed, and in general I don't know much from them (something I must rectify, though).
- From Transatlantic, I like much better "The Whirlwind", and I think it might not be all that wrong to include it. However, I wouldn't know which part of it (perhaps all of it... since the whole album is suposed to be one song... I guess that would be a bit excessive, though).
- Some more Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson songs I think would do nicely are "Radioactive Toy" (though what I know is a live version, from Coma Divine, and I don't know if the original would work as well), "The Sky Moves Sideway", and "Luminol".
- Something from Ayreon would be nice, indeed. Perhaps something like "Dawn of a Million Years" or "Isolation".
- Devin Townsend would also be great. A favourite of mine would be "Earth Day".
- I guess Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" is indeed missing here... as may be some of the Genesis songs you listed... but then again, so are missin many songs from Yes, and many other bands... we can't put all our favourite ones from our favourit artists.
- From Misplaced Childhood, I would choose the duo "Pseudo Silk Kimono / Kayleigh".
- From Opeth I would choose "The Drapery Falls".
- I guess "Tom Sawyer" from Rush is also missing indeed.
- From Dream Theater, if you are missing one song, the one I would choose is "Octavarium".
- Between "The Court of the Crimson King" and "Epitaph", I actually like Epitaph much more, and wouldn't like it to be left out. But I guess you are right puting Crimson King much higher in the list.
- "La Poderosa Muerte" by Los Jaivas, is indeed a wonderful song. Which reminds me of Spain's band Triana... "Abre la Puerta" may be considered also.
- Indeed Rick Wakeman is a big omision. He may be known for his work with Yes, but he was very big as a solo artist too... and if any solo artist my hold the embodiment of prog, I would say that's Rick Wakeman. Indeed one of those Six Wives should be included, and perhaps also "Judas Iscariot", but my personal choice would be "Arthur", which Wakeman himself has said is his best composission, and I guess I would agree with him.

I'm ok with most of those on the list....there are a few I would change but not many.