Before I hole myself in the basement and play Mass Effect, here's an update:
40. Porcupine Tree - Up the DownstairI think I've established myself as an old PT lover.
This album contains many of my favourites from the band and is near flawless, although I find the title track drags a bit. Synesthesia is one of the most fun songs the band has ever put out and Burning Sky is their best instrumental besides Moonloop. Still, my favourite on this album is probably Fadeaway. I was pissed to see it eliminated so early in the PT survivor.
One of the most beautiful songs the band has ever recorded. Also, Small Fish is one of the best short tracks ever made.
Favourite tracks: Fadeaway, Burning Sky, Synesthesia, Small Fish
39. Big Big Train - The Underfall YardFor anybody whose ever heard of neo-prog, this album is similar to that only without the huge derivativeness factor. It is kinda classic proglike in ways, but it has a totally modern and original feel. The band mixes a sort of Genesis influence with a little more atmosphere in places and a few folk elements in places. Also, Nick D'Virgilio is on drums, so you can't go wrong there.
This album also has one of my favourite moments ever, which is the atmospheric brass outro to Victorian Brickwork. Orgasmic.
Favourite tracks: Victorian Brickwork, The Underfall Yard, Master James of St. George
38. Birds and Buildings - Bantam to BehemothThis album is almost entirely instrumental, with a few incredibly poorly produced vocal parts in the mix just to give the album a "more human feel" as Dan Britton puts it. Dan Britton is not a good singer, and he knows it.
Anyways, apart from that, this album is very diverse and eclectic. The opener, Birds Flying Into Buildings, is definitely the best, and some may take it as 9 minutes of showing off, and they're right. But it's some of the most entertaining instrumental wankery I've ever come across. Other songs are more calm, like Chronicle of the Invisible River of Stone, and then you have more symphonic prog tracks, like Caution Congregates and Forms a Storm. This album is definitely an acquired taste, but it's really enjoyable.
Favourite tracks: Birds Flying Into Buildings, Caution Congregates and Forms a Storm, Battalion, Yucatan 65: The Agitation of the Mass