Forum Home Forum Home > Progressive Music Lounges > Top 10s and lists
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Top 100+ Prog Rock Songs (According to RYM votes)
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Top 100+ Prog Rock Songs (According to RYM votes)
 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
Trickster F. View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: February 10 2006
Location: Belize
Status: Offline
Points: 5308 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Trickster F. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Top 100+ Prog Rock Songs (According to RYM votes)
    Posted: November 26 2023 at 07:09
Hello again, everyone. Tireless Trickster is still at it, creating music lists and Spotify playlists based on raw numbers and data. 

Earlier, among other lists of mine, I posted a list of top 300 prog rock tracks by major prog bands, associated with the genre closely enough to be featured on our top albums page, which you can find here. Do note that substantial time has passed since then, with both average ratings changing and number of votes rising. A comment somebody posted that I'd remembered was that it'd be curious to see 'all those other artists' enjoying love and respect over at rateyourmusic.com, reflected in the ratings, and not just the staples of prog-rock as we see them. That sentiment I never did forget. 

This time, I bring to you a new list - 114 songs rated at least 4.5 based on at least 100 user votes on RateYourMusic. 'Prog' is considered in a broader sense to entail all bands listed on ProgArchives.com in a category other than Proto-Prog or Prog-Related. These are simply average estimations of the quality and enjoyability of the given tracks taken irrespectively of their representativeness of the prog genre as such or progressive elements found therein. You may find that some of these tracks have little to do with the genre besides having been recorded by an artist we list in one of the subgenre sections on our website. 

The list:

Place (prg) Place (ttl) Rating Band Song Vote No.
1 4 4.75 Swans  Helpless Child 1992
2 8 4.73 King Crimson Starless 2940
3 10 4.72 Swans  The Sound 1801
4 13 4.71 Kate Bush Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 3110
5 23 4.7 Pink Floyd Echoes 2791
6 31 4.69 King Crimson 21st Century Schizoid Man (Including 'Mirrors') 5397
7 33 4.69 Björk  Jóga 3160
8 35 4.69 Pink Floyd Comfortably Numb 2254
9 38 4.69 Kate Bush Wuthering Heights 1284
10 41 4.68 Pink Floyd Shine On You Crazy Diamond (1-5) 5274
11 60 4.67 Radiohead Paranoid Android 7997
12 61 4.67 Radiohead How to Disappear Completely 6601
13 66 4.67 Godspeed You Black Emperor!  Sleep 3201
14 67 4.67 Björk  Pagan Poetry 3079
15 71 4.67 Yes Roundabout 1474
16 76 4.66 Pink Floyd Time 5299
17 88 4.65 Radiohead Weird Fishes / Arpeggi 5836
18 89 4.65 Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here 5302
19 110 4.64 Swans  The Glowing Man  1089
20 115 4.64 Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno An Ending (Ascent) 501
21 119 4.63 King Crimson The Court of the Crimson King (Including 'The Return of the Fire Witch' and 'The Dance of the Puppets') 5259
22 123 4.63 Godspeed You Black Emperor!  Storm  3265
23 126 4.63 Nine Inch Nails  Hurt 2305
24 144 4.62 Radiohead No Surprises 7873
25 145 4.62 Radiohead Idioteque 6512
26 146 4.62 Black Country, New Road The Place Where He Inserted the Blade 4386
27 147 4.62 Pink Floyd Dogs 3434
28 149 4.62 Björk  Hidden Place 3148
29 151 4.62 Björk  Hyper-Ballad 3063
30 152 4.62 Björk  Bachelorette 3063
31 153 4.62 Björk  Unison 2894
32 156 4.62 Yes Close to the Edge 2348
33 198 4.61 Boris  Flood, Pt. 3 739
34 206 4.61 Boredoms  Seadrum 178
35 207 4.6 Radiohead Everything in Its Right Place 6634
36 217 4.6 Nine Inch Nails  Closer 2335
37 220 4.6 Swans  Screen Shot  2290
38 239 4.6 Electric Light Orchestra Mr. Blue Sky 538
39 247 4.59 Radiohead Jigsaw Falling Into Place 5730
40 248 4.59 King Crimson Epitaph (Including 'March for No Reason' and 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow') 5284
41 268 4.59 The Moody Blues With The London Festival Orchestra The Night: Nights in White Satin 642
42 275 4.59 Boris  Just Abandoned Myself 452
43 281 4.58 Radiohead Karma Police  7915
44 287 4.58 Swans  Oxygen 2166
45 289 4.58 Talk Talk  After the Flood 1846
46 294 4.58 Can Vitamin C 1320
47 297 4.58 Genesis Supper's Ready 1009
48 299 4.58 Godspeed You! Black Emperor  Mladic 942
49 321 4.57 Tool Schism 1656
50 335 4.57 Boris  Feedbacker, Pt. 2 748
51 341 4.57 Cardiacs Dirty Boy 362
52 347 4.57 Ground-Zero  男たちの挽歌 + 小さな願い <ローランド・カーク・ヴァージョン> 118
53 349 4.56 Radiohead Nude 5781
54 354 4.56 Radiohead Pyramid Song 3417
55 362 4.56 Tool Parabola 1635
56 375 4.56 Genesis Firth of Fifth 1034
57 379 4.56 King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard The Dripping Tap 879
58 400 4.56 Camberwell Now Working Nights 107
59 409 4.55 black midi Sugar / Tzu 2681
60 414 4.55 Sigur Rós  Svefn-g-englar 1934
61 416 4.55 Can Halleluhwah 1862
62 424 4.55 Genesis Dancing With the Moonlit Knight 1348
63 436 4.55 Boris  Flood, Pt. 2 738
64 452 4.55 Kayo Dot The Manifold Curiosity 320
65 458 4.55 Frank Zappa Watermelon in Easter Hay 187
66 465 4.54 Björk It's Not Up to You 3034
67 480 4.54 Talk Talk The Rainbow / Eden / Desire 1376
68 495 4.54 Steely Dan Do It Again 902
69 497 4.54 Nine Inch Nails  We're in This Together 880
70 500 4.54 Supertramp The Logical Song 745
71 501 4.54 Sigur Rós  Hoppípolla 661
72 502 4.54 Opeth  Ghost of Perdition 631
73 521 4.54 Shibusashirazu Naadam 255
74 530 4.53 King Crimson Fallen Angel 2802
75 531 4.53 black midi Welcome to Hell 2661
76 539 4.53 Frank Zappa Peaches en Regalia 1530
77 543 4.53 Death Crystal Mountain 1285
78 551 4.53 Boris  Feedbacker, Pt. 3 1133
79 553 4.53 The Mars Volta Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus 1031
80 577 4.53 Peter Gabriel Solsbury Hill 435
81 581 4.53 Cardiacs Fiery Gun Hand 384
82 591 4.53 Haruomi Hosono  Sports Men 150
83 593 4.52 Pink Floyd Us and Them 5174
84 594 4.52 Black Country, New Road Basketball Shoes 4289
85 608 4.52 Tool Lateralus 1598
86 632 4.52 Invisible El anillo del Capitán Beto 751
87 636 4.52 Invisible Niño condenado 712
88 641 4.52 Boredoms ◯ 646
89 644 4.52 Porcupine Tree Arriving Somewhere but Not Here 595
90 647 4.52 Steely Dan Kid Charlemagne 562
91 649 4.52 Gorguts Nostalgia 536
92 656 4.52 Mew Comforting Sounds 343
93 668 4.52 Los Jaivas La conquistada 119
94 671 4.51 Radiohead Reckoner 5698
95 683 4.51 Talk Talk  Ascension Day  1829
96 685 4.51 Swans Animus 1738
97 692 4.51 King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Robot Stop 1252
98 698 4.51 Kate Bush Babooshka 1012
99 706 4.51 Mastodon Blood and Thunder 817
100 707 4.51 Gojira Flying Whales 775
101 708 4.51 Brian Eno By This River 761
102 709 4.51 Rush The Spirit of Radio 738
103 717 4.51 Porcupine Tree Anesthetize 631
104 729 4.51 Tori Amos Spark 289
105 739 4.5 Pink Floyd Shine On You Crazy Diamond (6-9) 5125
106 744 4.5 Radiohead Daydreaming 3594
107 755 4.5 Pink Floyd Hey You 2131
108 760 4.5 Talk Talk  New Grass 1819
109 765 4.5 Death Symbolic 1341
110 767 4.5 Yes Heart of the Sunrise 1313
111 779 4.5 The Mars Volta Cassandra Gemini 958
112 787 4.5 Tim Hecker Live Room 638
113 798 4.5 Rush Subdivisions 460
114 818 4.5 Ground-Zero 見上げてごらん、夜の星を 111


And while we're at it, here's a playlist of ALL 820 tracks, whether progressive or otherwise, that also qualify with a rating of 4.5 and a number of votes above 100. 

As you can see, the appreciation for progressive music is markedly different from what is visible on this website. Many artists we have listed here are enjoying more recognition over on RateYourMusic, and the constituents of this list are largely explained by ProgArchives being very welcoming of artists not traditionally associated with the prog genre, most notably the so-called Crossover Prog artists (all female singer-songwriters on the list and more). If more PA regulars were active users of RYM, we would have higher average ratings on artists like Magma, VdGG, Gentle Giant and so on, and proggier numbers by the likes of, say, Rush would rise on the charts. 

Nonetheless, it's evident that with 114 out of 820 tracks being featured on this website (and the number would probably double with Proto/Related artists, like Bowie, The Beatles and Slint, included here), RYM isn't entirely alien to our values and tastes. 

All comments, queries and criticisms are welcome, as per usual. 


Edited by Trickster F. - November 26 2023 at 07:18
sig
Back to Top
Logan View Drop Down
Forum & Site Admin Group
Forum & Site Admin Group
Avatar
Site Admin

Joined: April 05 2006
Location: Vancouver, BC
Status: Offline
Points: 35804 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Logan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 26 2023 at 12:21
Thanks.

Lots and lots I love there, but then that top list would be more likely to reflect on my tastes more than a ProgArchives top track list if we had that feature. I did a series of polls where I went through the top 5000 plus albums in the RYM general music chart trying to including the albums listed in PA (unfortunately I did not save the master list). I am not as familiar with the top songs (when going through the charts I would sometimes see them for individual albums).

Some of my particular fave choices are:
Swans' Helpless Child, The Glowing Man, and The Sound
Black Country, New Road's The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Storm
Bjork's Joga and Bachelorette
Cardiacs' Dirty Boy
Can's Vitamin C and Halleluhwah
Shibusashirazu's Naadam
Radiohead's Pyramid Song

But most of the albums those tracks came off on the list I love. In many cases my song choice would be different but I still really like what is listed.

On another note, of course PA has been open to many that would not fit more conventional or traditional notions of Prog, but also a lot of albums that do well in RYM charts could be/ could have been included here. Sometimes it just means no one suggested it, it wasn't suggested to the right team at the right time, or a compelling case was not presented (a poorly presented suggestion thread can kill what might have been includable otherwise).
Back to Top
richardh View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 28029 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 26 2023 at 17:28
Excellent, that list is another reason why I don't need to bother with RYM

Couldn't see any ELP, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, Van Der Graaf Generator, Marillion, Camel at all. Bizarre to say the least  Christ you could make quite a list of tracks from just those bands on their own!
Back to Top
Logan View Drop Down
Forum & Site Admin Group
Forum & Site Admin Group
Avatar
Site Admin

Joined: April 05 2006
Location: Vancouver, BC
Status: Offline
Points: 35804 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (2) Thanks(2)   Quote Logan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 26 2023 at 20:29
^ The value of RYM depends on how you use it and what you want to use it for. I like that it is so customisable. I have not used many of the features at the site. I am not really familiar with the song ratings (other than I sometimes see them for some albums) and I have seen some curated song lists by users (their user lists is a significant feature), but I have found the album charts and artist discographies very useful for discovering albums of interest to me. A reason why I find it so useful with the charts is that the filters have so many terms you can use, and you can search albums by multiple tags/ genres / descriptors at a time. And as a lot of what I like is not Prog, or questionably Prog in many cases, it also becomes useful.

Anyway, not to sure about the song ratings this time. The old top 300 mentioned in the OP was based on 18 users. In that list, VdGG's Man-Erg came in at 146, Camel at 32....

I know this is controversial, but I feel that ELP has been way overrated by some (like threefates) at PA, as well as Jethro Tull and Marillion being overrated. I would say most all bands are overrated by some and underrated by others, but I have seen this attitude of expectation that ELP should be included in lists, deserve to fare better, that they deserve to be in popularity lists that are cumulative based on ratings of what people like, again and again, and that charts which don't include them are somehow faulty or useless. Blame the ignorant masses then who don't have the same amount of appreciation.

I respect ELP, I recognise that they are important to Prog, but I would not expect it to be on that song list from RYM (a general music site), nor would I say that people at a Prog site like PA should rate it higher (it can be respected without being one of the most liked).

I find Magma (and many thousands of others) to be a finer band than Marillion, but I won't complain that it's not listed there (and admittedly it's not a great comparison). To each his or her own. I am sure that if this was a list of tracks really dedicated to Prog at RYM (and Prog by RYM standards) rather than they way it is curated from RYM, then those bands would fare better.

A complaint I have read more than once about RYM charts is that they are useless because Pink Floyd fares so well (it fares almost as well at PA) and that Radiohead gets so many ratings. I love Pink Floyd and Radiohead myself and would rate numbers of albums by both very highly.

If someone would say that ELP is not important to Prog, well then I would say that they are underrating it. I would not say that it is wrong because more people rated albums by other bands, or because other songs tend to get favoured. At least Lucky Man and From the Beginning still get plenty of attention on classic rock radio (or they did).

When looking up Progressive Rock for albums at RYM in the charts, then you will find Jethro Tull, Camel, and VdGG albums in the top 21. See CLICK. A lot of what is here at PA in Progressive Rock categories is not labelled Progressive Rock there. Also, of course, factor-in that there are often multiple songs by multiple acts there, and it is a popularity list.

As for ELP, it is divisive and I would say that it has been unfashionable for a long time. Even at a dedicated to Prog site like PA people complain about it not doing better in the charts. I mean it only has one album in the top 100 at PA, which is the debut at 93, and I would expect ELP to be more popular here (I do not mean it has more fans here, but I mean percentage-wise of the relevant raters). For albums, ELP's debut ranks (for all-genres) at 145 for 1970, and 6,275 for all-time, all-genres with 6,735 ratings. AT PA, ELP's top rated album has 2,335 ratings. I know that Neo-Prog generally is not nearly as popular with the people who rate albums at RYM that are included in PA than at Prog Archives (percentage wise, I mean). Marillion's top-rated album at RYM, the debut, has 3,819 ratings. It is at 36 for 1983 and 3,475 overall, which actually is a pretty strong showing in the album charts.

I would sooner expect to see, say, A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers to a Marillion song.

Not saying that I would expect it oan best of all-time Prog tracks list (it did make my list of faves for its time), but this is one of my favourite modern tracks included in PA. If most others at PA don't like it nearly as much as me, so be it. My tastes actually seem considerably more mainstream at RYM than here.



By the way, speaking about the albums charts particularly, one thing generally is that popularity breeds more popularity. If an album (or song) climbs the charts, more people who see the charts will notice it and also rate it. It does help to be in, and certain people act more as influencers than others (like the needledrop with his vids/ podcasts). Maybe ELP will become a cool or popular band to listen to with Gen Z because someone went viral with him/her and his/her dog dancing to Love Beach on TikTok.

Edited by Logan - November 26 2023 at 20:59
Back to Top
Trickster F. View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: February 10 2006
Location: Belize
Status: Offline
Points: 5308 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Trickster F. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 26 2023 at 23:25
Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

On another note, of course PA has been open to many that would not fit more conventional or traditional notions of Prog, but also a lot of albums that do well in RYM charts could be/ could have been included here. Sometimes it just means no one suggested it, it wasn't suggested to the right team at the right time, or a compelling case was not presented (a poorly presented suggestion thread can kill what might have been includable otherwise).

No kidding. Seeing somebody like Fishmans, The Flaming Lips or Sufjan Stevens here wouldn't be drastically out of place. The proposal was either not effective enough from the PR perspective, or the artist in question didn't boast comparable familiarity among PA users.

Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Anyway, not to sure about the song ratings this time. The old top 300 mentioned in the OP was based on 18 users. In that list, VdGG's Man-Erg came in at 146, Camel at 32....

Actually, the top 300 I posted (linked in this thread) is also RYM-based. What's different about it is that it ONLY lists artists we associate with prog, as reflected in our top albums charts. It's true that albums by VdGG, Gentle Giant and many more are not given nearly enough justice there. What seems to be the case is that fans of these artists do not frequent RYM to a sufficient extent to affect the state of things there, and also that the RYM users who do listen to these albums don't seem to know which tracks stand out. It'd be an interesting experiment to force people visiting this website to give ratings to most notable Gentle Giant tracks (there would be some argument as to which ones those might be, no doubt), and you'd probably still get no unanimity, as people aren't equally invested in the band and there are greater levels of sophistication in understanding what's going on. This can be contrasted to the top-rated tracks on this list, which may be more immediately accessible. It's also cool to like Zappa on RYM, and among internet music nerds in general, but only two of his tracks have made the list, so apparently he's too esoteric to be understood, and mostly liked for the fact that he is esoteric. 

Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

I know this is controversial, but I feel that ELP has been way overrated by some (like threefates) at PA, as well as Jethro Tull and Marillion being overrated. I would say most all bands are overrated by some and underrated by others, but I have seen this attitude of expectation that ELP should be included in lists, deserve to fare better, that they deserve to be in popularity lists that are cumulative based on ratings of what people like, again and again, and that charts which don't include them are somehow faulty or useless. Blame the ignorant masses then who don't have the same amount of appreciation.

It's probably not too controversial, as both ELP and Marillion only have 3 albums in our top 250 albums chart with neither having an album in the top 50. Compare that to Opeth and Dream Theater, much newer bands which certain prog fans outright refuse to listen to, and you will see that they are slightly better represented on the same charts. Clearly, the protest of the fans of the former aside, they are objectively not as loved as they think they are or should be. Do they deserve more recognition and love? Well, that depends on whom you ask, and I don't think there's anyone who's seriously listened to prog who has unreasonably neglected all their major output. Are they among the most influential prog bands? Doubtless. However, so are The Moody Blues, and let's check if In Search of the Lost Chord is anywhere on the list of everyone's favourite prog records. Even Days of Future Passed hasn't accumulated 1K ratings during the ~20 years of this site's existence. 

Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Not saying that I would expect it oan best of all-time Prog tracks list (it did make my list of faves for its time), but this is one of my favourite modern tracks included in PA. If most others at PA don't like it nearly as much as me, so be it. My tastes actually seem considerably more mainstream at RYM than here.

I can relate to this myself all too well. I got into prog (and subsequently joined this website) as a teenager because it seemed like the most exciting and adventurous form of modern music, or rock music, available. I also learnt the indie community has values and ideals in music beyond the mainstream, and I could tap into their discoveries as well. I was outnumbered and probably alone when I was most active here, when I was a kid dedicated to doing work for the Prog-Metal team, but it would seem, judging by the posts left here that came up when I was doing this or that Google search over the years, that there are far more active forum users with awareness of both the worlds of unorthodox rock music. 

I guess the likes of BCNR and black midi can still appear on Collaborators' annual top albums charts? The specialists / enthusiasts are very likely to have heard them and developed a liking, while prog just isn't in its prime for the general userbase to agree on anything. These aren't the days when new prog and prog metal greats were churning out their finest records any more. Instead, you might have, what, Wobbler and Big Big Train (not any more, I guess), and albums by old favourites of any era and subgenre of prog that chanced to achieve immediate recognition but only for said bands' fans. Heck, when were the last great releases by Phideaux and Discipline? You get what I'm trying to say. 

Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

By the way, speaking about the albums charts particularly, one thing generally is that popularity breeds more popularity. If an album (or song) climbs the charts, more people who see the charts will notice it and also rate it. It does help to be in, and certain people act more as influencers than others (like the needledrop with his vids/ podcasts). Maybe ELP will become a cool or popular band to listen to with Gen Z because someone went viral with him/her and his/her dog dancing to Love Beach on TikTok.

It snowballs for sure. For RateYourMusic in particular (because, let's face it, your common TikTok-using Gen Zer is about as likely to meticulously assign ratings to tracks on the internet after meticulously listening to them as your common pop-punk 20 years prior, or your common hair metal aficionado 20 more years prior to that), the target audience might not be TikTok but rather something like 4chan, with senseless dedication that amounts to no clout and any real feeling of belonging amongst your circle of friends, but desperate clinging to geek culture and certainly some comprehension of the quirky, adventurous and unrelenting side of music. What is Christian Vander missing that Michael Gira has (the two might have a few things in common)? He's French, his band sings in Kobaian (didn't stop Sigur Ros), and he's less straightforward and austere. I'm sure your explanation will be at least as good as mine. 


Edited by Trickster F. - November 27 2023 at 00:48
sig
Back to Top
richardh View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 28029 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 26 2023 at 23:47
I'm not going to quote directly from any comments (Logan, thanks as always, very erudite)

My thinking is that I only care about what prog fans think about prog. Conversely do I care about 'straight ahead' rock music? Not really but many do and that's fine. I'm not going to go and rate a load of LZ albums as I rarely listen to them. I like The Who a lot more because they were (and are) way more interesting to me. Controverisal opinion perhaps. Don't know. 

Anyway this is a list of tracks not bands. ELP did Tarkus. If that's not in a list of important 100 prog tracks then it's worthless. It's as binary as that to me. I don't worry about it at all. I come here for valid opinions and recommendations about prog. RYM time and time again shows its general uselessness re prog. Yep I get Floyd are highly rated and more well known as are Genesis. I like these bands as well. I don't need a list of everything they did though do I? I can easily source it myself by getting the CD's off the shelf.


Edited by richardh - November 26 2023 at 23:48
Back to Top
Logan View Drop Down
Forum & Site Admin Group
Forum & Site Admin Group
Avatar
Site Admin

Joined: April 05 2006
Location: Vancouver, BC
Status: Offline
Points: 35804 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Logan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 27 2023 at 00:25
^ I'm not that familiar with rateyourmusic and track ratings, but I wouldn't expect it to be a list of 100 important Prog tracks, but instead for it to be about popularity (known and liked by audiences at RYM). I too would include ELP in a most important list and maybe some in a list of favourites too.

I actually commonly am more interested in what people (individuals, groups...) like than what they think is globally important so I tend to gravitate towards popularity lists.

^^ Sorry, I misread the 18 users comment when scanning it and so misunderstood. And this is not a very good response. I had thought it was done from RYM instead of PA, but I got what you were saying all wrong. I would not be surprised if Fishmans, The Flaming Lips and Sufjan Stevens all get in in time. I have wanted to propose Fishmans, The Flaming Lips are apt for PA and with the Prog Related team now, and I am hardly opposed (I had wanted it in Psych) and I think Sufjan Stevens might have been positively considered already.

There is a significant overlap with lots of adventurous Indie and progressive rock and the audiences have quite a lot in common (and overlap). I mean a lot of Indie is progressive.

And yeah, black midi has been popular with quite a few collabs (I love black midi).

And my thought on ELP really didn;t end up being controversial, I think. It is one of those bands where a fair amount of people at PA have seemed dismissive of what are charts based on popularity rather than importance per se (like PA's top albums) due it not being high on the list, and people get indignant about it. very recently there was a comment from a, I think, new to this forum member complaining about PA's top 100 albums list because only one ELP appears at it is quite far down the list. Maybe he does not understand how it works. It's not a best of, it's not most significant, it is a ranking based on an accumulation of ratings which factors in the number of ratings, and has weightings, from disparate users that is cumulative value based on individual's tastes (that there can be a bandwagoin effect is another factor....)

Joking about the TikTok Gen Zer, but I know 4Chan users have helped to prop up certain kinds of music including Swans and others, and not just with their memes, and I have heard that The Needledrop (which I mentioned) is popular amongst certain 4Chan users. If he got behind, say, modern Marillion rather than Swans, I don't know how people would react.
Back to Top
Trickster F. View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: February 10 2006
Location: Belize
Status: Offline
Points: 5308 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Trickster F. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 27 2023 at 01:11
Tarkus currently carries a rating of 4.39 from a total of 447 user ratings on RYM, higher than NFU or the second part of Thick as a Brick. I would say this gives justice to the epic, knowing it will not have universal value to every music fan. The numbers are a good sign it wasn't left unattended by the active prog listeners on the website. I'm sure its importance was factored in by some, but the rating is just that - how much the people rating the track thought they liked it. 

RYM or any statistics you can gather there will not tell us what is prog or what prog is good, but it can continue to give us leads as to what new music deserves to be heard and added here. Will you hear about black midi here first, or if you frequent RYM? On the other hand, you'll discover a new IQ album is coming out, or that Phideaux exists if you are present here a lot. 

For lists dealing primarily with importance, you always have top 500 greatest lists like the one by Rolling Stone. Here is their top 10, if you're curious: 

1 Marvin Gaye What's Going On
2 The Beach Boys Pet Sounds
3 Joni Mitchell Blue
4 Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life
5 The Beatles Abbey Road
6 Nirvana Nevermind
7 Fleetwood Mac Rumours
8 Prince and the Revolution Purple Rain
9 Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks
10 Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Not a bad list either, and the full list of 500 is also missing all of ELP, King Crimson and Genesis, which we would arguably agree are important. 

Entertaining an alternative universe where Fantano is overzealous in his praise of Marillion's F.E.A.R. album, posting multiple irony-doused videos and reviews and spreading memes, I imagine the man would be deemed 'irrelevant' by his current followers. He does, after all, depend on his target audience already sharing of his enthusiasm a priori, and none would be present for late Marillion. His followers who already listen to prog probably won't need another reminder, though. 


Edited by Trickster F. - November 27 2023 at 10:13
sig
Back to Top
omphaloskepsis View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: October 19 2011
Location: Texas
Status: Offline
Points: 6341 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote omphaloskepsis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 27 2023 at 10:40
This is an extremely biased ranking.  I love it because it gives me a glimpse into a distinct demesne treasure trove of sonic gems. I shall dig deep into this prog pudding.Wink 

Edited by omphaloskepsis - November 27 2023 at 10:50
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.234 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.