17. Pendragon
A clear *current* leader in what can be considered Neo-Prog. Marillion held the title with Fish at the reigns, but Pendragon have been oozing prog excellence for 25 years now. The band is one of the few that can strip down to all keyboards for awhile and have it work perfectly. They are a band in which the guitar solos remind you of David Gilmour, and happily they often last for quite awhile. They are both anthemic at times and subtle at others. They make you sing along, and they certainly deserve more recognition then what they get considering how long they've been playing the game. I'm going to list a lot of songs for this band, and it's because I find all of them to be classics.
Favorite Albums: The Masquerade Overture, The Window of Life, Believe
Favorite Songs: Queen of Hearts, Sister Bluebird, The Walls of Babylon, Breaking the Spell, The Last Man on Earth, Nostradamus, As Good As Gold, Paintbox, Masters of Illusion, A Man of Nomadic Traits, King of the Castle, No Place For the Innocent, The Wishing Well, Indigo, The Freak Show
16. Bruce Dickinson
One of the true icons in all of metal Bruce Dickinson does more than showcase his vocal abilities on his outings aside from Maiden. The music is more diverse then Maiden, and his melodies are often stronger, if not at least different from what you're used to hearing from him. He recorded two albums that are arguably stronger than any Maiden album and the rest of his work is very good, even if a bit inconsistent. If the speculation is true and Maiden does call it quits after the new album and tour metal fans should be praying that he spends time working on solo material in between flights around the world.
Favorite Albums: Chemical Wedding, Accident of Birth
Favorite Songs: Son of a Gun, Tattooed Millionaire, Born in '58, 1000 Points of Light, Laughing in the Hiding Bush, Change of Heart, Starchildren, Darkside of Aquarius, Road to Hell, Man of Sorrows, Accident of Birth, King in Crimson, Chemical Wedding, Book of Thel, Gates of Urizen, Trumpets of Jericho, Abduction, Soul Intruders, Navigate the Seas of the Sun
15. Marillion
Marillion is a very hard band for me to rank. Although I adore their first 5 albums, I'm not a fan of what I've heard thereafter. However before finalizing my rankings I did give Brave and Marbles another spin and perhaps I had been a bit too hard on them in the past and maybe I'll check out another H-era record again soon. The Fish era material has often been compared to Genesis, but as with Beardfish I find that early Marillion is better than what it's being compared to, in fact, I'd say it blows Gabriel era Genesis out of the water. Script is an impressive debut, Fugazi is an underrated gem, and the next two albums are pretty much flawless. It should be noted that The Last Straw is probably the best album closer I've ever heard.
Favorite Albums: Clutching at Straws, Misplaced Childhood
Favorite Songs: Script For a Jester's Tear, Garden Party, Assassing, Incubus, Fugazi, Kayleigh, Heart of Lothian, Childhoods End, Hotel Hobbies/Warm Wet Circles/That Time of the Night, White Russian, Incommunicado, Slainte Mhath, Sugar Mice, The Last Straw, The King of Sunset Town, Easter, The Uninvited Guest