47.Weather Report - Heavy Weather (1977)This is some awesome jazz fusion with just a little touch of pop. Weather Report has always been one of my favorite Jazz Fusion bands along with Return To Forever and Pat Metheny Group. But sometimes,making your music more catchy can elevate it without making it more complex or "epic". Devin Townsend Project's Addicted! is a quite good example. That album is my personal favorite because it's more enjoyable then Terria,my second favorite. Well,Heavy Weather is slightly better than the self titled because it's just more fun! Zawinul's keys are like the usual,are a highlight. Besides having the coolest name ever,Joe Zawinul is one of the most badass keyboard players. Jaco Pastorius is just mindblowing,laying down some crazy badass bass fills. Wayne Shorter needs no introduction,just a legend of jazz music. This is also to my knowledge,the first album from the first album from the Pastorius era. And yes,this album has the jazz fusion classic,Birdland. The song has one of the greatest grooves I've heard in the whole genre. It's a little more pop than their previous efforts but to me,this is the greatest Weather Report track. The song makes me shake my head every freaking time and it just sounds like the band is really enjoying themselves which is just great!
Genre:Jazz Fusion
Favorite Tracks:Birdland,Remark You Made,Palladium
46.Emerson Lake & Palmer - Self Titled (1970)Some people really underrate this band's discography thanks to some of their awful albums during the late 70s like Love Beach and Works Volume 2. (I don't mind Volume 1.) Some downright slammed the band itself because Greg Lake left King Crimson for this band. (I prefer John Wetton anyways…) But COME ON! This is the band that brought us such amazing songs like Take A Pebble and Three Fates. There is a bunch of cool riffs here too. For example,the riff to Knife Edge is the first prog riff I have besides the "Octavarium Theme" and that riff just kicks ass. The piano riff on Take A Pebble is also really cool with the bass in the background. Lake's vocals really add to this track. It kinda reminds me of his performance on Moonchild from The Court Of The Crimson King. The song also has this cool instrumental section. But there is absolutely zero wankery. There is some excellent piano work from Emerson and then Lake comes back at the end. Oh and yes,Lucky Man is one of the most memorable prog ballad ever. Some people despise the moog solo on the song for some reason. But screw them,it rules. Yes it's kinda out of place but it gets me every time I hear it. Overall,this is an awesome prog rock album. It might be controversial that I put it above Fragile from Yes. But listen up,I prefer Yes' discography to ELP's and Yes as a band to ELP. BUT,this album is from start to finish masterpiece. Thank you ELP. Now I'm gonna hang myself if I ever hear Love Beach again.
Genre:Prog Rock
Favorite Tracks:Take A Pebble,Three Fates,Lucky Man
45.Devin Townsend Project - Addicted (2009)Okay,listen up. I'm not a huge fan of Devin Townsend. I have not listened to every album from him and actually find couple of his "classics" overrated like Ziltoid The Omniscient. His albums have always lacked something for me. Besides Terria cause that album is fucking awesome. But I feel like I enjoy Addicted a tad more. Why? It's just a little more fun. It's a really cool combination of pop and prog(ish) metal. Devin is really good at mixing these two genres together. He also has Anneke up his sleeve this time which is probably one of my favorite female vocalists. Her voice really adds to the awesomeness of the album. There are many songs like Ih-Ah and Hyperdrive! who are just extremely catchy and fun to listen to. Heck,Hyperdrive! just popped up in my head. It's so catchy that I actually started singing the song in the elevator the other day.
Awake! is the epic of the album but it still has the popish elements. Now on paper,that doesn't sound so attractive. But the results just sound incredible. Awake is one of my favorite DTP songs. BUT,I prefer Hyperdrive! thanks to Anneke and how much better it is than the ZTO version. Even though I think that Terria is the better album,I enjoy Addicted much more.
Genre:Pop/Prog Metal
Favorite Tracks:Hyperdrive! and Awake!