Unexpected headbanging moments in prog

Genesis: "The Musical Box" "Fly on a Windshield"

King Crimson: "Red" "Larks Tongue in Aspic Pt 2"

 

 

I just love the slow build of the title track (it becomes irrestistable rock'n'roll at 1:04, when Alan White comes in on the drums).

"Spirit of Survival", of course, and "Don't Go" into which it segues - I react particularly strongly to that tune 'cos the lyrics include my slogan for life: "Don't take love for granted".  I definitely think there are too many people out there who do exactly that - and get fooled again and again!  (By the way, has anybody else noticed that "Don't Go" also contains a reference to "Won't Get Fooled Again" in the lyrics?  Sweet.)

OK, next up: Chris Squire's vocal spotlight "Can You Imagine" - at about 1:28, it goes from being a gentle piano ballad to full-on hard rock.

The fantastic drumming and killer bass riff at about 2:10 in "Dreamtime", especially after you've heard the ominous horn bits at about 1:09.  In fact what's so remarkable about the whole album is that it shows that combining an orchestra with a rock band does not necessarily equal sappy balladry!  ("Soft as a Dove", easily the album's weakest link, notwithstanding, of course.)  The only other album I've heard which sounds anything like it, in fact, is Chris Squire's 1975 solo release Fish Out of Water - but that album doesn't have enough guitar to be headbanging in the traditional sense.

I'll submit one more example: I'm not sure if this really counts as prog rock but here goes.  Roxy Music's "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" (from For Your Pleasure, 1973 - a most apt title!) has a killer guitar solo at 3:07, right after the famous lines "I blew up your body / But you blew my mind".