Best Instrumental Prog.

Well lets get the ELP out of the way first...

1. Toccata
2. The Three Fates - originally that beginning organ solo scared the crap out of me.. but I grew very fond of it.. The second fate however, is one of the most beautiful moments in music....
3. Tank - its even great on Carl's solo album.. Working Live, with a guitar replacing the keyboards.
4. The Barbarian
5. Fanfare for the Common Man
6. Aquatarkus
7. Hoedown
8. The Hut of Baba Yaga
9. Close to Home
10. Abbadon's Bolero

Now for the others...

1. Alan Parson Project w/ David Gilmour - Return to Tunguska
2. Pink Floyd - On the Run
3. Pink Floyd - Great Gig in the Sky
4. Pink Floyd - Marooned
5. David Gilmour - Lets Get Metaphysical
6. David Gilmour - Raise My Rent
7. Yes - Steve Howe - The Clap
8. Enya - Watermark
9. Vangelis - Hymn
10. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

Words fail me.

My choice

1. Hemispheres: all instrumentals apart from tracks 1,2, and 3

2. Tubular Bells : all instrumental apart from the bits that aren't, vocal noodling and yahooing.

3. Sounds Of Switzerland : yodelling is not singing it is using the voice as an instrument.

4. Hocus pocus : see above.

ELP:

Hoedown

Aquatarkus(live)

Toccata

The Barbarian

Abaddons Bolero

Other bands:

Focus - Sylvia

Focus - Hocus Pocus

Genesis - Los Endos

Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein

Camel - Moon Madness

Albums:

Rick Wakeman - Six Wives Of Henry VIII

Vangelis - Albedo 0.39

Mike Oldfield - Incantations

Tangerine Dream - Force Majeure

Liquid Tension Experiment 2

Gryphon - Red Queen To Gryphon Three

Frank Zappa - Hot Rats (except for one song which has Captain Beefheart on vox)

Grobschitt - Solar Music Live

and some stuff from Soft Machine.

...and all of the above.

I think that basically prog is instrumental music. How can you classify singers as prog singers, for me it makes no sense.

Good point Philippe, but I have my doubts. Of course the main characteristic of prog' rock is the music itself, but there is a difference between prog' lyrics and commercial ones.

Most of commercial lyrics are based in love and basic instincts, they worry more of the metric and the sound of the words than in what they are saying, of course there are exceptions, but this is the most common option.

Prog' lyrics go further, they explore complicated issues like meaning of life, divinity, historic facts, etc. For example Jon Anderson is pure poetry (Not my favorite though) based in meaning of life, Genesis explored violence, history even botanics, ELP lyrics are totally versatile, they went from love to far west stories, Jethro went even further with Thick as a Brick, Aphrodite's Child dared to deal with the most complex and controversial Book of the Bible.

Who except a prog' band would dare to tell a story as the one in "The Hangman and the Papist" by The Strawbs? Where a hangman finds the next victim is his own brother and starts to question his own faith

The jailer binds his hands and puts the blindfold to his eyes He leads him through the door before the crowd The hangman sees his victim and the blood drains from his face He sees his younger brother standing proud The hangman tries to protest but is ordered to proceed His trembling hands begin to take the strain His eyes are blind with streaming tears, he cries for all to hear Forgive me God, we hang him in they name.

Prog' albums are often conceptual, songs are linked one with the others and the lyrics of each track are part of a whole story.

I believe our main interest is in the music tself, but good and inteligent lyrics help a bit.

Iván

I think you're right to a certain extent Philippe, in the case of Yes for example, the lyrics of "Close to the edge" are written purely for "instrumental" purposes. On other ocassions (such as "Dark side of the moon" as a well known example), they bind the album together. Would DSOTM have been such a masterpiece without the lyrical concept?

Good quote Ivan, you'd almost believe it's Dave Cousins' brother who's being hanged, he puts so much emotion into that song.

"Hamburger Concerto" by Focus is probably top of my list of favourite instrumentals. 

Noteable mentions to "The songs of distant earth" by Mike Oldfield, "Monmadness" by Camel, and "The loner" by Gary Moore.

It is extremely hard to choose:

Let's say:

Banco - Traccia 2

Frank Zappa - Redunzl

Frank Zappa - Bogus pomp

Happy the man - New York dream suite

Gryphon - Heldenleben

Rush - La villa Strangiato

Eddie Jobson - Lakemist

Rick Wakeman - Chamber of horrors

Pat Metheny - Antonia

Vangelis - Chariots of fire

no, no: it is not that ! I can find better, but that is what i'm thinking about right now!

Blacksword wrote: In the case of Camel, they were at their best when Andy Latimer wasn't trying to sing

I thought they were better when Pete Bardens wasn't trying to sing