Top 5 epics and why? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Author

Message

Topic Search

Topic Options

febus

Special Collaborator

Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam

Joined: January 23 2007
Location: Orlando-Usa
Status: Offline
Points: 4312

Posted: May 04 2007 at 07:55

In no order

MOON IN JUNE====Soft Machine

HAMBURGER CONCERTO====Focus

SOLAR FIRE=====Grobschnitt

KOHNTARKOSZ====Magma

LIZARD======KIng Crimson

barryveeke View Drop Down

Forum Newbie

Joined: May 04 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 1

Posted: May 04 2007 at 05:59

Wow this is hard (and fun). Been reading the forum a lot now, time to participate.

No particular order because that is really too hard:

- Genesis - Supper's ready

My first prog-epic, and still one of the best for me. Totally love it, with all it's movemenst in different emeotions

- Dream Theater - octavarium

The best DT song up to date. Marvelous how they mingle old-school style prog with their masterful playiong skills and traditional DT-esque crazy parts.

- Transatlantic - Stranger in your Soul

Simply brilliant! Beautiful melodies, excellent musiscianship. lovin it!

- Porcupine Tree - Anesthesize

Maybe it is a bit too early to put such a 'young' epic in this list but this one really

blew me away and kicked my ass. just WOW

- The Mars Volta - Cassandra Gemini

Modern prog, truly original and brilliant!

of course there are much much more brilliant epics out there. i mean Yes is not even on my list, and i love that band! And Mr neal Morse makes Marvellous epics.

but well, this is it

Marwin

Forum Senior Member

Joined: December 13 2005
Status: Offline
Points: 166

Posted: May 04 2007 at 05:27

Yes - Heart of Sunrise, Just an explosion of beatiful emotion and feeling love it
Genesis - The Musical Box, Exciting thrilling and all in all a masterpiece
Beatles - A Day in a Life, Hard to explain this one just go listen to it
Camel - Lady Fantasy, Probably one of the best sounding songs of all time tonewise
Opeth - The Drapery Falls, Never fails to impress me with its beatiful melodies and its raw power

Edited by Marwin - May 04 2007 at 05:30

http://myspace.com/toxicmindfin
http://myspace.com/porcelainprog

dedokras

Forum Senior Member

Joined: December 04 2006
Location: Bulgaria
Status: Offline
Points: 635

Posted: May 04 2007 at 05:06

Pink Floyd: Dogs

Pink Floyd: Shine

Pink Floyd: Echoes

Genesis: Supper Ready

Yes: Gates of delirium

The Beatles: Abbey Road b side

Marillion: the first three songs on Clutching at Straws (could even be called Clutching at Straws Suite IMO)

sorry, couldn't pick only 5

toolis

Forum Senior Member

Joined: April 26 2006
Location: MacedoniaGreece
Status: Offline
Points: 1678

Posted: May 04 2007 at 04:51

Marillion - This Strange Engine, very moving..
Pink Floyd - Echoes, excellent vocal lines..
Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick, cause it's the best 70's LP..
Dream Theater - A Change Of Seasons, cause i never get bored of a single second of it
Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade Of Gray, cause it's the best prog concept ever..

-music is like pornography...

sometimes amateurs turn us on, even more...

-sometimes you are the pigeon and sometimes you are the statue...

andu

Forum Senior Member

Joined: September 27 2006
Location: Romania
Status: Offline
Points: 3089

Posted: May 04 2007 at 04:26

Well...

Echoes/Dogs/Gates of Delirium/Close to the Edge/Baker Street Muse.

I don't relate to the tracks in TAAB or TFTO as to epics; I rather feel the albums are full suites, that are only divided into parts because of technical reason.

banjosoap

Forum Groupie

Joined: April 07 2007
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 102

Posted: May 04 2007 at 04:08

It's so difficult to work out what defines an epic. These are possibly my 5 favourite absolute undeniable prog masterpieces in no real order:

1.Echoes - Pink Floyd

2.Supper's Ready - Genesis

3.Close To The Edge - Yes

4.Karn Evil 9 - ELP

5.Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd

Honourable mention to Atom Heart Mother - Pink Floyd, Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield and The Gates Of Delirium - Yes.

These are definite epics but there are many I prefer more than those songs when the day suits me but whose titles as epics are questionable. Eg:
And You And I - Yes

The Musical Box - Genesis

Starless - King Crimson

A Saucerful Of Secrets (Live) - Pink Floyd

The Cinema Show - Genesis

Moogtron III View Drop Down

Prog Reviewer

Joined: April 26 2005
Location: Belgium
Status: Offline
Points: 10616

Posted: May 04 2007 at 03:13

1. Awaken (Yes) - the most beautiful sounding, most mature epic I ever heard

2. Tarkus (ELP) - it's full of great musical ideas, very original and powerful

3. In Held Twas In I (Procol Harum) - the blueprint for Genesis' Supper's Ready

4. Song Of Sheherazade (Renaissance) - great storytelling music

5. Ragnarök (Cliffhanger) - great Dutch epic in the classic prog tradition

MadcapLaughs84 View Drop Down

Forum Senior Member

Joined: February 21 2006
Location: Mexico
Status: Offline
Points: 658

Posted: May 04 2007 at 02:17

Without any specific order:

1. Dream Theater - A Change Of Seasons: This is by far, the most beautiful song by Dream Theater and it's so underated.

2. Transatlantic - Duel With The Devil: A kick-ass track by this supergroup, wow!!!

3. Supper's Ready: Every single band member is awesome in this track, especially Peter Gabriel

4. Shine On You Crazy Diamond & Dogs: Pure Perfection

5. Close To The Edge: The epic that defines prog.

Edited by MadcapLaughs84 - May 04 2007 at 02:18

prog4evr

Forum Senior Member

Joined: September 22 2005
Location: Wuhan, China
Status: Offline
Points: 1455

Posted: May 04 2007 at 00:52

Gaston wrote:

Close to the Edge because it was Yes' creative epoch and explores so much....
Tarkus is top notch instrumentally and showcases how a trio can still pull off what it takes Yes five people to do.
Supper's Ready because of Gabriel.
And Gates Of Delirium because even the second best Yes epic is still in the top five epics of all time....

Agreed on the ones above - very good, Gaston. What, BTW, constitutes an epic? If it's length of time, then "All of the Above" by Transatlantic, several by Flower Kings, "Incomudro-Hymn to the Atman" by Kansas, and even "Awaken" by Yes would all qualify (not to mention that these have excellent prog musical quality). If it is variance of themes within (e.g. making a 'suite'), then the whole album of Childhood's End (Marillion), the first (vinyl album) side of Smallcreep's Day (Mike Rutherford), the first four songs from Clutching at Straws (Marillion), would all qualify here. There is either broad or more narrow definitions for 'epic' to be considered....

ebag7125

Forum Senior Member

Joined: December 21 2006
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 129

Posted: May 04 2007 at 00:46

I haven't heard a lot of the songs that other poeple are posting but these are my favorites:

2112 - rush- the first epic i've heard.

Cygnus X-1 book 2 - rush - Its AWESOME

Histoires san Paroles - Harmonium - a great instrumental

One endless childish day - Dark suns - the best from that album (a great album)

my last one would either be Cinema Show by Genesis or The Odyssey by Symphony X

i'm not sure Cinema show would be called an epic though

jimbrown87 View Drop Down

Forum Newbie

Joined: May 03 2007
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 6

Posted: May 03 2007 at 23:49

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

moreitsythanyou View Drop Down

Forum Senior Member

VIP Member

Joined: April 23 2006
Location: NYC
Status: Offline
Points: 11682

Posted: May 03 2007 at 23:42

Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull

Supper's Ready - Genesis

The Tain - The Decemberists

Mekanik Destructiw Kommandoh (whole album, it counts, right?) - Magma

Last 3 way tie between

Harmonium - Histoire Sans Paroles

Yes - Close to the Edge

Focus - Hamburger Concerto

<font color=white>butts, lol[/COLOR]

stonebeard View Drop Down

Forum Senior Member

Joined: May 27 2005
Location: NE Indiana
Status: Offline
Points: 28057

Posted: May 03 2007 at 23:29

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)

My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want!

Gaston

Forum Senior Member

Joined: February 26 2004
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 401

Posted: May 03 2007 at 23:22

Close to the Edge because it was Yes' creative epoch and explores so much.

Echoes because it embodies long trippy segued psychedelia.

Tarkus is top notch instrumentally and showcases how a trio can still pull off what it takes Yes five people to do.

Supper's Ready because of Gabriel.

And Gates Of Delerium because even the second best Yes epic is still in the top five epics of all time.

Honourable mention to Dogs and Awaken because they were the last of prog's hayday epics.

Edited by Gaston - May 03 2007 at 23:23

It's the same guy. Great minds think alike.

Marfan

Forum Newbie

Joined: March 15 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 13

Posted: May 03 2007 at 23:09

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

2) Tull- "Thick as a Brick" - some criticize this as being too cold and precise - HOGWASH!

3) Pink Floyd- "Dogs" - Love the lyrics.

4) Marillion - "Ocean Cloud" - second half of this song is simply awesome.

5) ELP - "Take a Pebble" - nice and mellow....

sean

Prog Reviewer

Joined: April 02 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1155

Posted: May 03 2007 at 23:09

1. Dream Theater- A Change of Seasons
2. Yes-Close to the Edge
3. Rush-Cygnus X-1 Book 2: Hemispheres
4. Symphony X- The Divine Wings of Tragedy
5. Dream Theater- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulance

for me, i think the quality of the epic depends on the story, and how well the music conveys the essence of that story.

tszirmay

Special Collaborator

Honorary Collaborator

Joined: August 17 2006
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 6673

Posted: May 03 2007 at 22:28

Gong-Isle of Everywhere

Yes-Gates of delirium

Floyd-Echoes

Yes-CTTE

Genesis-Supper

Tull-Thick as a Brick

Sorry had to put six (five is a sh*tty number)

Dim

Prog Reviewer

Joined: April 17 2007
Location: Austin TX
Status: Offline
Points: 6890

Posted: May 03 2007 at 22:22

Close to the edge- YES

Suppers ready-Genesis

Gates of Delirium-YES

Musical box- Genesis

Larks toungues in aspic Part 2-King crimson

Here is a few minor ones that I feel are also important:

Scenes from a memory(the whole album)-dream theater

Cygnus X-1 part two Hemispheres- Rush

You all know I like the old stuff and all these songs are my ultimate turn on!!! The only one you may question me on is the larks toungues, well its an amazing instrumental, in fact my favirout busting with more talent than any other instrumental ever!

ClassicRocker View Drop Down

Forum Senior Member

Joined: March 02 2007
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 894

Posted: May 03 2007 at 21:31

"Tarkus" - ELP

"Close To The Edge" - Yes

"A Tab In The Ocean" - Nektar

"Echoes" - Pink Floyd

"Karn Evil 9 Suite" - ELP

"Gates of Delerium"/"Nous Sommes Du Soleil" - Yes