FULL LIST: ALL Epics by Every Major Prog Band

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   Hello again, everyone! I have a compulsion of sorts to create random stat-based lists that are subsequently turned into Spotify playlists (see my past threads Top 300 Prog Rock Tracks (based on RYM ratings) or Top 500 Prog Metal Tracks (based on RYM ratings)), and this time it has taken me to creating a list of all epic songs by every band featured in ProgArchives' top 250 albums with at least 500 ratings. 

While the theme was self-explanatory, I had to come up with an answer to these three deceptively simple questions to even begin working on the list:

- What is an epic?
There's no single answer! Some songs get more done within a shorter length than much longer tracks, yet it seemed like length would be the simplest metric to uphold. A quick Google search for how long an epic needs to be got me to this very website's forums, where the most common response in the poll was over 15 minutes. This is exactly what I used as the cutoff line. This means Yes has 7 songs in the playlist, Genesis and King Crimson have 1 each and Pink Floyd has 4 for instance. 

- What is prog?
Again, some kind of metric was expected, so I went with the ProgArchives database and the tags over at RateYourMusic to decide what would and what wouldn't make the list. For instance, Devin Townsend and Porcupine Tree both have prog-unrelated ambient tracks above 15 mins that I excluded for that reason. I don't personally feel Tangerine Dream until after Phaedra is prog, but the tag over at RYM says 'Progressive Electronic', so I followed the rules I'd established myself. I generally relied on tags where I clearly lacked knowledge of a given artist's ouevre, but there may still be rough imperfections that with some cooperative work could be alleviated. 

- What is a song?
Another question that makes me sound braindead, without which the idea cannot really be adequately fulfilled. Is Shine On You Crazy Diamond a single song or two? What about Dream Theater's Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence? Knowing more about the artist's intention each individual case would surely help, and I mostly used my intuition to see it through, so in some cases it's a bit arbitrary.

Spotify playlist

Here comes the full list. 259 epics total by 73 unique artists, with the Spotify playlist reaching 96 hours 44 minutes in running time. 

  No. of
  Songs
  Band
  Song

  7
  Yes 
  Close to the Edge 

  The Revealing Science
  of God (Dance of the Dawn) 

  The Remembering (High
  the Memory) 

  The Ancient / Giants
  Under the Sun 

  Ritual (Nous Sommes
  du Soleil) 

  The Gates of
  Delirium 

  Awaken 

  1
  Genesis
  Supper's Ready 

  4
  Pink Floyd 
  Atom Heart Mother
  Suite 

  Echoes 

  Shine On You Crazy
  Diamond

  Dogs 

  1
  King Crimson 
  Lizard 

  2
  Jethro Tull 
  Thick as a Brick 

  A Passion Play 

  3
  Van Der Graaf
  Generator 
  A Plague Of
  Lighthouse Keepers 

  Meurglys III (The
  Songwriters Guild) 

  Squid/Octopus 

  3
  Rush 
  The Fountain Of
  Lamneth 

  2112

  Cygnus X-1 Book II:
  Hemispheres 

  2
  Banco Del Mutuo
  Soccorso 
  Il giardino del
  mago 

  Canto nomade per un
  prigioniero politico 

  3
  Änglagård
  Höstsejd

  Ur vilande 

  Snårdom 

  4
  Frank Zappa
  Abnuceals Emuukha
  Electric Symphony Orchestra And Chorus 

  The Mothers Of
  Invention | The Little House I Used To Live In 

  Big Swifty 

  The Adventures Of
  Greggery Peccary 

  1
  Harmonium 
  Histoires Sans
  Paroles 

  5
  Wobbler 
  Hinterland 

  Clair Obscur 

  Imperial Winter
  White 

  From Silence to
  Somewhere 

  Merry Macabre 

  2
  Caravan 
  Nine Feet
  Underground 

  The Dabsong
  Conshirtoe 

  1
  Renaissance 
  Song of
  Scheherazade 

  1
  Supertramp 
  Brother Where You
  Bound 

  7
  Dream Theater 
  A Change of
  Seasons 

  Octavarium 

  Six Degrees of Inner
  Turbulence

  In the Presence of
  Enemies 

  The Count of
  Tuscany 

  Illumination
  Theory 

  A View from the Top
  of the World 

  1
  Museo Rosenbach 
  Zarathustra

  1
  Steven Wilson 
  Raider II 

  2
  Peter Hammill 
  Gog Magog (In Bromine
  Chambers) 

  Flight 

  9
  Mike Oldfield
  Tubular Bells 

  Hergest Ridge 

  Ommadawn 

  Incantations 

  Taurus II 

  Crises 

  Amarok 

  Music From The
  Balcony 

  Return To Ommadawn

  7
  Porcupine Tree 
  Phase I 

  Phase II 

  Phase III 

  Phase IV 

  The Sky Moves
  Sideways 

  Moon Loop
  (Improvisation) 

  Anesthetize 

  1
  Opeth 
  Black Rose
  Immortal 

  1
  Mahavishnu Orchestra
  Hymn to Him (with
  London Symphony Orchestra) 

  8
  Magma 
  Riah sahiltaahk 

  Kohntarkosz

  Köhntark

  Mëkanïk zaïn 

  De futura 

  K.a 

  Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré 

  Zess (Le jour du
  néant)

  1
  Robert Wyatt 
  The Animals'
  Film 

  1
  Chick Corea 
  Sometime Ago / La
  Fiesta 

  5
  Marillion 
  Grendel 

  This Strange
  Engine 

  Ocean Cloud 

  Interior Lulu 

  Gaza 

  2
  All Traps On
  Earth 
  All Traps on
  Earth 

  Magmatic Warning 

  1
  Hatfield & The
  North 
  Mumps

  3
  Focus 
  Eruption 

  Anonymus Two 

  Hamburger
  Concerto 

  2
  Edge Of Sanity 
  Crimson 

  Crimson II 

  2
  Emerson, Lake &
  Palmer 
  Tarkus 

  Karn Evil 9 

  1
  Riverside 
  Second Life
  Syndrome 

  7
  IQ 
  The Last Human
  Gateway 

  The Narrow
  Margin 

  Harvest Of Souls 

  Without Walls 

  For Another
  Lifetime 

  The Great Spirit
  Way 

  Fallout 

  1
  Bubu 
  El Cortejo de un Día
  Amarillo 

  1
  Pain of
  Salvation 
  The Passing Light of
  Day 

  1
  Il Balletto di
  Bronzo 
  Introduzione 

  1
  TOOL 
  7empest 

  15
  Tangerine Dream 
  Alpha Centauri 

  Birth of Liquid
  Plejades 

  Nebulous Dawn 

  Origin of
  Supernatural Probabilities 

  Zeit 

  Atem 

  Phaedra 

  Rubycon 

  Madrigal
  Meridian 

  Force Majeure 

  Tangram 

  Mojave Plan 

  Sphinx Lightning 

  Green Desert 

  Livemiles 

  3
  Phideaux 
  Chupacabras 

  Waiting For the Axe
  To Fall 

  Snowtorch 

  6
  Big Big Train 
  The Underfall
  Yard 

  The Wide Open
  Sea 

  East Coast Racer 

  A Mead Hall in
  Winter 

  Brooklands
  Sequence 

  Atlantic Cable 

  2
  Eloy 
  Land Of No Body 

  Atlantis' Agony At
  June 5th, 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime 

  4
  Haken 
  Celestial Elixir 

  Visions 

  The Architect (feat.
  Einar Solberg) 

  Messiah Complex 

  2
  The Mars Volta 
  Cassandra Gemini 

  Tetragrammaton 

  8
  Transatlantic 
  All of the Above 

  My New World 

  In Held ('Twas) in
  I 

  Duel with the
  Devil 

  Stranger in Your
  Soul 

  The Whirlwind

  Into the Blue 

  Kaleidoscope 

  3
  Discipline. 
  Into the Dream 

  Before the Storm 

  Rogue 

  12
  Motorpsycho 
  Demon Box 

  The Wheel 

  JAGA JAZZIST
  HORNS 

  Suite: Little Lucid
  Moments 

  Gullible's
  Travails 

  Through the Veil 

  Ratcatcher 

  Big Black Dog 

  A Pacific Sonata 

  The Crucible 

  N.O.X. IV: Night of
  Pan 

  Chariot Of The
  Sun 

  4
  Soft Machine 
  Facelift 

  Slightly All The
  Time 

  Moon In June 

  Out-Bloody-Rageous 

  1
  Uriah Heep 
  Salisbury 

  12
  Neal Morse 
  A Whole Nother Trip

  The Creation 

  The Separated
  Man 

  The Door 

  The Conflict 

  The Conclusion 

  So Many Roads

  Seeds of Gold 

  World Without
  End 

  Alive Again 

  Not Afraid, Pt.
  2 

  Beyond the Years 

  5
  Beardfish 
  Sleeping In
  Traffic 

  Until You
  Comply/Entropy 

  And the Stone Said:
  If I Could Speak 

  Note 

  If We Must Be Apart
  (A Love Story Continued) 

  1
  Devin Townsend 
  Singularity 

  8
  Spock's Beard 
  The Light 

  The Water 

  Time Has Come 

  Flow 

  At The End Of The
  Day 

  The Great
  Nothing 

  From The
  Darkness 

  Jaws Of Heaven 

  1
  Comus 
  The Malgaard Suite -
  Live in 1972 

  6
  Sylvan 
  A Fairytale
  Ending 

  Artificial
  Paradise 

  Chapter 2: Share the
  World with Me 

  Chapter 3: The Words
  You Hide 

  Chapter 4: The Waters
  I Traveled 

  Chapter 5: Farewell
  to Old Friends 

  1
  Kate Bush 
  An Endless Sky Of
  Honey 

  2
  Gryphon 
  Midnight
  Mushrumps 

  (Ein Klein)
  Heldenleben 

  2
  Symphony X 
  The Divine Wings of
  Tragedy 

  The Odyssey 

  4
  Moon Safari 
  We Spin the
  World 

  Methuselah's
  Children 

  Other Half of the
  Sky 

  Lover's End Pt. III:
  Skellefteå Serenade 

  2
  Arena 
  Moviedrome 

  The Legend of Elijah
  Shade 

  3
  Gazpacho 
  Dream of Stone 

  Space Cowboy 

  Sapien 

  3
  Liquid Tension
  Experiment
  Three Minute
  Warning 

  When the Water
  Breaks 

  Ya Mon 

  7
  CAN 
  You Doo Right 

  Halleluhwah 

  Aumgn 

  Bel Air 

  Animal Waves 

  Cutaway 

  Graublau 

  6
  Amon Düül II 
  Phallus Dei 

  Yeti 

  Syntelman's March of
  the Roaring Seventies 

  Restless
  Skylight-Transistor-Child 

  Chamsin: The Marilyn
  Monroe-Meomorial-Church 

  Tatzelwurmloch 

  1
  Hawkwind 
  You Shouldn't Do
  That 

  2
  Nektar 
  A Tab in the
  Ocean 

  Remember The Future

  1
  The Alan Parsons
  Project
  The Turn of a
  Friendly Card 

  10
  The Flower Kings 
  Stardust We Are 

  Garden of Dreams 

  I Am the Sun

  The Truth Will Set
  You Free 

  Devil's
  Playground 

  Love Supreme 

  Driver's Seat 

  Monsters &
  Men 

  Love Is the Only
  Answer 

  Numbers 

  2
  Karmakanic 
  Send a Message From
  the Heart 

  Dot_God the Universe
  and Everything Else No One Really Cares About, Pt. I 

  4
  Pendragon 
  Not Of This World

  World's End

  The Wishing Well 

  Comatose 

  4
  Anubis 
  Disinfected and
  Abused 

  The Passing Bell 

  A Room with a
  View 

  Pages of Stone 

  3
  Echolyn 
  Mei 

  Shades 

  Island 

  2
  Comedy of Errors 
  Wonderland 

  Summer Lies
  Beyond 

Here are the Band Rankings according to the number of epics they are represented by on the list:

15 Tangerine Dream 
12 Motorpsycho, Neal Morse 
10 The Flower Kings 
9 Mike Oldfield
8 Magma, Transatlantic, Spock's Beard 
7 Yes, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, IQ, CAN 
6 Big Big Train, Sylvan, Amon Düül II 
5 Wobbler, Marillion, Beardfish 
4 Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Haken, Soft Machine, Moon Safari, Pendragon, Anubis 
3 Van Der Graaf Generator, Rush, Änglagård, Focus, Phideaux, Discipline., Gazpacho, Liquid Tension Experiment, Echolyn 
2 Jethro Tull, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, Caravan, Peter Hammill, All Traps On Earth, Edge Of Sanity, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Eloy, The Mars Volta, Gryphon, Symphony X, Arena, Nektar, Karmakanic, Comedy of Errors 
1 Genesis, King Crimson, Harmonium, Renaissance, Supertramp, Museo Rosenbach, Steven Wilson, Opeth, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Robert Wyatt, Chick Corea, Hatfield & The North, Riverside, Bubu, Pain of Salvation, Il Balletto di Bronzo, TOOL, Uriah Heep, Devin Townsend, Comus, Kate Bush, Hawkwind, The Alan Parsons Project
And to top it off, have a Top 30 Longest Prog Epics!
1.    77:00 Transatlantic – The Whirlwind
2.    72:00 Mile Oldfield - Incantations
3.    59:26 The Flower Kings - Garden of Dreams 
4.    57:04 Tangerine Dream – Livemiles
5.    49:28 Echolyn - Mei
6.    49:18 Mile Oldfield - Tubular Bells 
7.    48:49 Magma - K.a
8.    46:21 Magma - Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré 
9.    45:06 Jethro Tull - A Passion Play
10.    43:50 Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick 
11.    43:00 Edge of Sanity – Crimson II
12.    42:09 Mile Oldfield - Return To Ommadawn 
13.    42:05 Kate Bush – An Endless Sky of Honey
14.    42:02 Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
15.    40:19 Tangerine Dream – Tangram
16.    40:00 Edge of Sanity – Crimson
17.    38:09 Mile Oldfield - Hergest Ridge
18.    37:57 Magma - Zess (Le jour du néant) 
19.    36:25 Mile Oldfield - Ommadawn
20.    36:12 Phideaux – Snowtorch 
21.    35:44 Beardfish – Sleeping in Traffic
22.    35:40 Nektar – Remember the Future
23.    35:32 Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways 
24.    34:58 Tangerine Dream – Rubycon
25.    33:38 Neal Morse – World Without End
26.    32:32 The Mars Volta – Cassandra Gemini
27.    31:54 Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
28.    31:45 Frank Zappa - Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra And Chorus
29.    31:44 Moon Safari – Other Half of the Sky
30.    31:28 Magma – Kohntarkosz 
I hope any of the resources above can be of some use, and I'm curious what possible improvements to the list could be welcome. 
One thing on my to-do list at present would be to continue the list with other bands' epics. Say, why exactly do Comedy of Errors and Anubis have representation on the list but Collage and La Maschera Di Cera don't? An exhaustive list of every notable prog epic ever recorded would be great to have sometime down the line. 
I'm digging the playlist generated as a result of this project, and I'll be looking to correct or consider correcting some of the inconsistancies that no doubt permeate the list based on what is pointed out in this thread. 

Edited by Trickster F. - July 14 2023 at 23:37

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