where every song is under five minutes?

Each song has to be it's own entity, not like the Snowgoose where all the tracks (except two i think, but give me a break here i am just giving an example) are all part of one concept all working together?

and what is a true prog album ?  for now let's just consider it an album where most people wouldn't argue about it

I picked five minutes because that would make for a long pop song i guess

curious about this i guess, right now i am listening to Soft Machines Volume II for the first time, every track is under 5 minutes, but my opinion isnt valid because, give me a break it's my first listen

Aaron

Octopus by Gentle Giant....................Damn, so close.

1. The Advent Of Panurge (4:40)
2. Raconteur Troubadour (3:59)
3. A Cry For Everyone (4:02)
4. Knots (4:09)
5. The Boys In The Band (4:32)
6. Dog's Life (3:10)
7. Think Of Me With Kindness (3:33)
8. River (5:54)  --- So Close, Oh Well

Damn, what an amazing album!

Oh nets, I was going to mention GG octopus. I did'nt remember the last one was a beat longer, but what a great album indeed ! I think JT songs from the woods is also close but again one or two songs are a beat longer.

Anyway, what an odd way to judge an album.

omri,

i am not judging the album on song length, but often prog rock is defined as having longer songs, so i was just wondering if a full-blown prog album can be pulled off with all songs shorter than 5 minutes

Aaron

Almost... Beefheart - TMR

1. Frowland (1:39)
2. The dust blows forward'n the dust blows back (1:53)
3. Dachau blues (2:21)
4. Ella guru (2:23)
5. Hair:Pie bake 1 (4:57)
6. Moonlight on vermont (3:55)
7. Pachuco cadaver (4:37)
8. Bills corpse (1:47)
9. Sweet sweet bulbs (2:17)
10. Neon meate dream of a octafish (2:25)
11. China pig (3:56)
12. My human gets me blues (2:42)
13. Dali's car (1:25)
14. Hair pie: Bake 2 (2:23)
15. Pena (2:31)
16. Well (2:05)
17. When big Joan sets up (5:19)
18. Fallin' ditch (2:03)
19. Sugar 'n spikes (2:29)
20. Ant man bee (3:55)
21. Orange claw hammer (3:35)
22. Wild life (3:07)
23. She's too much for my mirror (1:42)
24. Hobo chang ba (2:01)

But Decals... classifies!!!

1. Lick My Decals Off, Baby (2:38)
2. Doctor Dark (2:45)
3. I Love You, You Big Dummy (2:53)
4. Peon (2:23)
5. Bellerin' Plain (3:35)
6. Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop (2:04)
7. Japan In a Dishpan (3:00)
8. I Wanna Find A Woman That'll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have To Go (1:54)
9. Petrified Forest (1:41)
10. One Red Rose That I Mean (1:54)
11. The Buggy Boogie Woogie (2:18)
12. The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or The Big Dig) (2:10)
13. Space-Age Couple (2:33)
14. The Clouds Are Full of Wine (Not Whiskey or Rye) (2:47)
15. Flash Gordon's Ape (4:15)
25. The blimp (mousetrapreplica) (2:04)
26. Steal softly thru snow (2:13)
27. Old fart at play (1:54)
28. Veteran's day poppy (4:30)

Jethro Tull, Stand Up:

1. A New Day Yesterday (4:10)
2. Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square (2:12)
3. Bourée (3:47)
4. Back To The Family (3:48)
5. Look Into The Sun (4:21)
6. Nothing Is Easy (4:26)
7. Fat Man (2:52)
8. We Used To Know (4:00)
9. Reasons For Waiting (4:06)
10. For A Thousand Mothers (4:13)

One of my favourite prog-albums

ELP: Tarkus

Track listing
1. Eruption (2:44)
2. Stones Of Years (3:44)
3. Iconoclast (1:16)
4. Mass (3:12)
5. Manticore (1:52)
6. Battlefield (3:51)
7. Aquatarkus (4:04)
8. Jeremy Bender (1:51)
9. Bitches Crystal (3:58)
10. The Only Way (Hymn)(3:49)
Toccata in F and Prelude VI (themes used in intro and bridge only)composed by: Bach
11. Infinite Space (Conclusion)(3:20)
12. A Time And A Place (3:02)
13. Are You Ready Eddy? (2:10)

Total ime: 38:56

ELP - Tarkus

The six tracks that make up the suite are seperately listed on the album cover and easily identifiable.(They are not parts 1 -6)

Muse - Absolution

This is a prog album IMO.Without checking I'm sure all the songs are under 5 minutes in length.

richardh wrote: Muse - Absolution This is a prog album IMO.Without checking I'm sure all the songs are under 5 minutes in length.

I agree on the suggestion that this is prog. But... Butterflies and hurricanes clocks in at 5:01....

Dragon Phoenix wrote: richardh wrote: Muse - Absolution This is a prog album IMO.Without checking I'm sure all the songs are under 5 minutes in length.   I agree on the suggestion that this is prog. But... Butterflies and hurricanes clocks in at 5:01....

Darn!

Trouserpress wrote: richardh wrote: ELP - Tarkus The six tracks that make up the suite are seperately listed on the album cover and easily identifiable.(They are not parts 1 -6) But all the CD releases have them as one track and you're more than happy to talk about it as one song on any "best epic" threads going aren't you? Also, this talk of it being a "suite"... classical suites are still split by clearly defined pauses and changes in tempo, etc. A prog epic with a few subheadings/different melodies will often be referred to as a "suite" when it wouldn't really be right to call it so... I think this is a case of ELP fans having their cake and well and truly eating it.

Trouserpress is Right!!!! It is one freaking song!  And even if it is not (which it is!) it still doesnt answer the thread question cause it falls into to that long concept category split into seperate flowing tracks.

threefates is f**king with you guys, geez

Aaron

Not a perfect prog album, but something more than pop:

Blackfield - Blackfield
1. Open Mind (3:50)
2. Blackfield (4:07)
3. Glow (4:00)
4. Scars (3:57)
5. Lullaby (3:29)
6. Pain (3:47)
7. Summer (4:12)
8. Cloudy Now (3:34)
9. The Hole In Me (2:47)
10. Hello (3:09)

Total Time: 36:52

Only two out of ten slightly longer than 4:00!!!

Remastered on Rhino Records - May 21, 1996.

1. Absent for this consumend World (1:17)
2. Ora non ricordo piu (3:41)
3. Il suono del silenzio (3:32)
4. Mi sono svegliato e..ho chiuso gli occhi (3:56)
5. Lei sei tu: Lei (2:04)
6. La mia musica (4:10)
7. Johann (1:23)
8. Scotland Machine (3:06)
9. Cella 503 (3:17)
10. Contaminazione 1760 (1:04)
11. Alzo un muro elettrico (2:42)
12. Sweet Suite (3:12)
13. La grande fuga (2:59)

1. The Bath of Stars (1:45)
2. First Things First (2:41)
3. Gold (1:40)
4. The Summer Wheel (2:47)
5. The Slave (3:38)
6. The Hermit (2:59)
7. Rats and Monkeys (3:14)
8. The Skeleton (3:11)
9. The Winter Wheel (3:06)
10. Man and Boy (3:22)
11. Winter/War/Force/Three Figures (5:51)
12. Three Wheels (3:38)

Buckethead - The Cuckoo Clocks From Hell; Avant-garde riffbased prog metal:

1. Descent of the Damned (3:06)

2. Spokes for the Wheel of Torment (2:17)

3. Arc of the Pendulum (2:32)

4. Fountains of the Forgotten (3:22)

5. The Treeman (3:40)

6. Pylegathon (2:35)

7. Travelling Morgue (3:18)

8. One Tooth of the Time Train (3:27)

9. Bedlam's Bluff (3:15)

10. Beaten With Sledges (2:52)

11. Woods of Suicides (3:28)

12. Yellowed Hide (3:28)

13. Moths to Flame (3:13)

14. The Ravines of Falsehood (3:11)

15. The Black Forest (2:12)

16. Haven of Black Tar Pitch (3:19)

17. The Escape Wheel (2:52)

No proper track listing on the web  - had to transcribe.

Actually the Strawbs had a few good albums with songs all under 5 minutes:

Strawbs - From the Witchwood: 1971

Track listing
Side 1
1. Glimpse Of Heaven (3:50)
2. Witchwood (3:20)
3. Thirty Days (2:50)
4. Flight (4:25)
5. The Hangman And The Papist (4:10)
Side 2
6. Sheep (4:15)
7. Canon Dale (3:40)
8. The Shepherd's Song (2:50)
9. In Amongst The Roses (3:45)
10. I'll Carry On Beside You (3:10)

Total Time: 36:15

Strawbs - Deep Cuts: 1976

Track listing
1. I only want my love to grow in you (2:59)
2. Turn me round (3:43)
3. Hard hard Winter (2:55)
4. My friend Peter (2:15)
5. The soldier's tale (4:15)
6. Simple visions (4:36)
7. Charmer (3:13)
8. Wasting my time (Thinking of you) (2:28)
9. Beside the Rio Grande (4:19)
10. So close and yet so far away (2:59)

Total Time: 33:42

1. Witch hunt (4:17)
2. An angel falls (1:13)
3. Painted man (4:41)
4. This way madness lies (3:35)
5. Spectre at the feast (5:34)
6. Never ending night (3:23)
7. Skin game (4:43)
8. Salamander (3:59)
9. On the box (2:40)
10. Tsunami (2:38)
11. Bitter harvest (2:52)
12. The city of lanterns (1:22)
13. Riding the tide (4:28)
14. Mea culpa (3:46)
15. Cutting the cards (4:57)
16. Ascension (4:34)

I know I'll get scrutinized for Arena being Neo-Prog but Contagion comes close enough in my opinion.

threefates wrote: ELP: Tarkus Track listing 1. Eruption (2:44) 2. Stones Of Years (3:44) 3. Iconoclast (1:16) 4. Mass (3:12) 5. Manticore (1:52) 6. Battlefield (3:51) 7. Aquatarkus (4:04) 8. Jeremy Bender (1:51) 9. Bitches Crystal (3:58) 10. The Only Way (Hymn)(3:49) Toccata in F and Prelude VI (themes used in intro and bridge only)composed by: Bach 11. Infinite Space (Conclusion)(3:20) 12. A Time And A Place (3:02) 13. Are You Ready Eddy? (2:10) Total ime: 38:56

I would call that cheating

Crisis in Clay by 5uu's

1. Comeuppance (3:48)
2. Broadside Hits and Near Misses (2:21)
3. How-To's of Self Taught (3:40)
4. Bought the Farm (4:19)
5. Simply Agree (1:38)
6. Goliath in the Sights (4:18)
7. December (2:55)
8. Hunter Gatherer (3:30)
9. What Price Virtue? (3:19)
10. Darkened Door (4:54)
11. Encounter (3:26)
12. Willful Suspension of Disbelief (3:41)
13. Cirrus (3:38)
14. Weaponry (1:11)
15. Absolutely, Absolute (3:48)
16. Ringing in the New Ear (0:42)

richardh wrote: ELP - Tarkus The six tracks that make up the suite are seperately listed on the album cover and easily identifiable.(They are not parts 1 -6)   Muse - Absolution This is a prog album IMO.Without checking I'm sure all the songs are under 5 minutes in length.

Butterflies and Hurricanes is 5:02 - Now if that's not close!!

Trouserpress wrote: threefates wrote: I don't know.. I've got a cd of Tarkus right here in front of me.. and its not released as one track... what chu looking at?? The 2001 Sanctury Records remaster with "extensive liner notes". What chu looking at?

That Sanctuary release is really f****ed up then!

one of the best

pavlov's dog

pampered menial

1. Julia (3:10)
2. Late november (3:12)
3. Song dance (4:59)
4. Fast gun (3:04)
5. Natchez trace (3:42)
6. Theme from subway Sue (4:25)
7. Episode (4:04)
8. Preludin (1:39)
9. Of once and future kings (5:27) academic 27 seconds

Kansas, Point Of Know Return. At least it´s close. 

Track listing
1. Point of know return (3:11)
2. Paradox (3:49)
3. The spider (2:08)
4. Portrait (He knew) (4:32)
5. Closet chronicles (6:30)
6. Lightning hand (4:21)
7. Dust in the wind (3:26)
8. Sparks of the tempest (4:15)
9. Nobody's home (4:37)
10. Hopelessly human (7:10)

Total Time: 43:59

I must add my voice on the tarkus question. I think it is one of the best epics ever and I do'nt agree you can cut it to pieces. When does mass change to manticore ? (after the singing it turns to manticore than another singing).

I would also claim that the las 4 parts of "In the thresshold of a dream" is realy one epic suite I call "the dream".

Point of know return I remembered that both "Closet chronicles & "Hoplessly human" were much more than 5 minutes so I did not mention it even though I love this album.

Aaron, do'nt be angry please. I think it's a nice game to play and some found a true solutions (not me unfortunately) but it is just a game. If I'll ask you what music you like you will never consider it's length as a criterion.