Looks like long tracks is a good starting point - I have to agree - I like long tracks, it's one of the fundamental differences between PROG and POP.............

Spartacus wrote: Album cover art work is a major clue. Exhibit A:                      but sometimes this can be misleading. Exhibit B: Long songs can be a big clue to musical credability, although sometimes not. Exhibit C: STYX Styx 1972 Title information | Reviews Track listing 1. Movement for the Common Man: Children of... (13:11) 2. Right Away (3:40) 3. What Has Come Between Us (4:53) 4. Best Thing (3:13) 5. Quick Is the Beat of My Heart (4:49) 6. After You Leave Me (4:00) Total Time: 33:46 Although you may be intrigued by a 13 minute opus, one should never make the mistake of purchasing this album. The answer is always do your research via the internet with such great tools as Prog Archives.  The days of making the above mistakes can be easily avoided by aid of today's technology.

Of Couse now that the web exists. I think most of the people were referring to the pre web days and even more likely of the vinyl days. Record hunting was never an exact science and mistakes were frequent, but second hand shops were numerous and I bought a used record inToronto for $3 to 5 at one shop and would discard what I did not like to another for about that same price or slightly lower. (early 80's prices in Can $)

I do like long, epic tracks and I can't deny that if I see something that says:

Track 1: Blah, Blah (28.07)
Track 2: More Blah (8.00)
Track 3: Son of Blah (42.32)

I'm more inclined to want to buy it. I guess I'm intrigued as to how a band in today's prog climate can put together and epic without resulting to the usual clichés. Usually however, I'm left disappointed by the quiet/loud/dissonant/complex/strings/finale combinations that nine times out of ten, issue forth from my speakers but you live in hope.

The Flower Kings still offer a better epic than most.

sigod wrote: I do like long, epic tracks and I can't deny that if I see something that says: Track 1: Blah, Blah (28.07) Track 2: More Blah (8.00) Track 3: Son of Blah (42.32) I'm more inclined to want to buy it. I guess I'm intrigued as to how a band in today's prog climate can put together and epic without resulting to the usual clichés. Usually however, I'm left disappointed by the quiet/loud/dissonant/complex/strings/finale combinations that nine times out of ten, issue forth from my speakers but you live in hope. The Flower Kings still offer a better epic than most.

You just hit on the one group where this long track thing is probably best avoided.Flower Kings seem to make long tracks for the sake of making long tracks. They just water down the soup to make it last longer. Especially when you consider this incredible output from them (and Stolt participates/writes in other group/projects).