Top 5 epics and why?

1. ELP's Tarkus. The first epic track I heard and my all time favorite.
2. Supper's Ready by Genesis. I don't think I have to explain the greatness of this piece. Simply breathtaking from start to finish.
3. Close to the Edge (Obviously). The one thing that really stands out about this one is it's uniqueness. CTTE sounds like nothing else out there.
4. Echoes by Pink Floyd. Listening to Echoes is like being gently carried away to a distant land were everything is green and submarine. Outstanding.
5. A Change Of Seasons by Dream Theater. Actually this fifth spot really belongs to Karn Evil 9, but ACOS has always been IMO way underrated. I find it superior to Octavarium and even Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence.      

Edited by Hans - May 03 2007 at 20:04

Pink Floyd has 2 of my top 5

Dogs- best song on their best album. Its prog bliss- LOVE the guitar work/lyrics.
Echoes. A classic! Atmospheric, soothing, deep- excellent track.

Cygnus X-1 by Rush. An amazing song by my favorite band. !st rate musicianship, great lyrics and it never, ever gets old. Well, all the above never get old.

My last two? Not sure

Possibly Six Degrees, and the Divine Wings of Tragedy- I am a prog metal nut.

1. Supper's Ready - Genesis
2. Thick as a Brick (both parts) - Jethro Tull
3. Nine Feet Underground - Caravan
4. Echoes - Pink Floyd
5. Dogs - Pink Floyd

Nice, I was going to make a "favorite songs over 20 minutes thread", this works just as well.

1. "Nine Feet Underground" - Caravan: Mmmm...over 20 minutes of In the Land of Grey and Pink goodness.
2. "Song Of Scheherazade" - Renaissance: Off my favorite Renaissance album, and one of my all time favorites. Beautiful.
3. "Suite Charlotte Pike" - Transatlantic: This seems to be one of the less popular Transatlantic tracks, but I just love it from beginning to end for some reason.
4. "Thick as a Brick" - Jethro Tull: I'm sure this doesn't need an explanation.
5. "Clearlight Symphony" - Clearlight: Very unique and amazing stuff. I'm not quite sure how to describe it.

Runner up goes to "Deborah, Jane, and Laurelie" by Laurelie. Not quite as flawlessly produced as the ones mentioned above, but a solid prog folk epic.

This is of course in no particular order.  And it's rather lengthy, you can skim ahead if you don't care. I don't mind.

Supper's Ready - Genesis - This is one of those pieces where I say "here comes my favorite part!" 30 seconds.  I have to silence people in the room not paying attention whenever it comes on.  Favorite part (yes, my favorite of the favorites) is from the 14:16 marker until the end.

In Held (Twas) In I - Procol Harum - I chose this one because if it weren't for this one, many others might not have been made.  Also it's an awesome epic on it's.  I still don't know if I prefer the original version or the Transatlantic version. Probably the original just because it's the original.  Favorite part in the Procol Harum version is Part 5, the choir sounds bad ass.  Favorite part in Transatlantic version is the part where the vocals (after the monologue) come in.  I don't care how you feel about Neal Morse's vocals, he absolutely nails that part.

Amarok - Mike Oldfield - This is a fun one.  It changes all the time and I always keep asking myself "what would this look/sound like live?".  This is another one where my 'favorite part' is every few minutes.  Yes, this track is mainly cheese but it's a really good cheese from famous places in continental Europe.  Mr. Oldfield does cheese with class in my opinion of opinions.  My most favorite (favorite favorite again) has to be 32:08 when the really cool sounding whistle/flute thing (i think it's the pin whistle) and accordion come in and then the whole thing shifts to this huge climactic bit filled with recurring themes and all.

Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull - All though the recording quality isn't great it's still one of my favorites.  This one brings back memories of Christmas and Battlefield 2 because I was playing this while playing Battlefield 2 during Christmas.  Yes, not quite the the album you would expect playing a modern war simulator .   Video games are a guilty pleasure.  Then again so is this song.  Favorite part from part 1 is when 17:07 into it until the end.  It's near flawless.


Bangkok/Fire Garden Suite - Steve Vai -  Yes, big surprise here.  I think these two tracks on the Fire Garden Album are the most musical things he's ever done and though to many of you that means nothing, to some it speaks volumes .  He still shows off, but he always shows off.  It's part of his style.  He keeps it relatively musical here.  My favorite part of the whole thing is the acoustic guitar and piano.  That part always gives goosebumps.  This song also has good examples of variating a given theme.

"Tarkus" - ELP

Gong-Isle of Everywhere

1) Yes - "Close to the Edge" - my first exposure to prog rock - WOW!

The Wishing Well by Pendragon (basically the peak of Pendragon's songwriting thus far)
Close to the Edge by Yes (do I even need to explain?)
Supper's Ready (likewise)
Gates of Delirium (an epic battle, a beautiful ending)
2112 by Rush (not Rush's best, but an excellent long hard rock song in epic style)

mekanik destructiw kommandoh is definitely worth mentioning.  talk about intense.  and definately not the typical epic.