Thanks everyone! This next batch doesn't have too many (or any?) surprises, especially if you know my tastes at all!
30.
A Farewell To Kings by Rush (94 Plays) - Just like the previous album, this is another favorite of mine. I often listen to this album and
Hemispheres together, and they so happen to fit onto one single CD-r, for easier listening! Before I had an iPod, this is how I listened to this album, and it worked so well having "Cygnus X-1, Book II: Hemispheres" follow right after "Cygnus X-1, Book I: The Voyage"! And besides the closing track, the first side is pretty amazing: the opening title track has just enough meter and tempo changes to keep ANY musicians busy for awhile, whilst "Xanadu" explores new territory for the band. They really amp'd up the PROG dial on this album (and the next). The shorter tracks are good, if a bit different for the band, especially "Madrigal", but in the context of the album, I enjoy it!
29.
The Sky Moves Sideways by Porcupine Tree (94 Plays) - Another album that I've made my own tracklist for, combining various ideas from it's 3 different releases, creating a full CD's worth of music:
Total - 75:00
1. "The Sky Moves Sideways Phase 1" – 18:39
2. "Dislocated Day" – 5:24
3. "Stars Die" – 5:01
4. "Moonloop (Improvisation)" – 16:18
5. "Moonloop (Coda)" – 4:52
6. "The Moon Touches Your Shoulder" – 5:40
7. "Prepare Yourself" – 1:58
8. "The Sky Moves Sideways Phase 2" – 16:48
It's got a sort of "W"-shaped feel, with the title-track epic book-ending the album while the atmospheric "Moonloop" forms the middle of the album, with the shorter tunes around it. It's an amazing album, and quite a few steps forward for the band that started out as a joke. I think one of the reasons I've grown to love this album so much is because of it's Floydian nature, and when I got into Porcupine Tree, I was also discovering Pink Floyd (and King Crimson). I heard so many elements of those bands in PT that this album stuck out to me. I love everything about it, from the epic title track, to the long and journey-like "Moonloop", to the beautiful "Stars Die", the heavy "Dislocated Day", and the touching "The Moon Touches Your Shoulder". Definitely in my Top 5 PT albums, and the first of three on this list!
28.
The Incident by Porcupine Tree (95 Plays) - And this is the 2nd of three PT albums on this list. Now, just because it's so high on here doesn't mean I rank it very high, but I do happen to quite enjoy the album as a whole. The song-cycle is unique (well, for PT/SW), and again, it's the band's Floydian aspects that pop up that really excite me about this album! This, to me, was a blending of everything they've done up to this point as it had the heavy metal-esque parts, the softer and more melodic sections, and the proggy/complicated sections, plus the atmospheric Floydian parts. It has it all, and I cannot complain! I do not rank it as low as some fans do, but it's definitely Top 5 PT material in my book, but on this list, it's not the highest PT album...and the most-played PT album on this list just might surprise some of you!
27.
Drama by Yes (96 Plays) - My most played Yes album, and definitely in my Top 5. As alluded to earlier, my enjoyment of
Fly From Here comes from my love of this album. The opening track "Machine Messiah" was so unlike Yes, yet still very Yes-like, it was a paradoxial perfection. And Trevor Horn didn't do such a bad job being the new Jon Anderson! Sure, they had two new members who helped change the sound, but Yes was always about changing line-ups and styles, whether by design or by accident, and this album was a welcome change after the semi-clunker that was
Tormato. Every track on this album is quite different for Yes, and I think I love it even more for that fact - it's sort of the odd-one-out, and albums like that in a long discography of similar music, really stick out to me and, most of the time, I enjoy them! This album also marks the end of their really proggy era, and 1980 certainly was a year for changing prog (see also
Permanent Waves and
Duke, also two of my favorite albums).
26.
? by Neal Morse (96 Plays) - This album was Neal's first new album when I became a fan of his in 2004/2005. My anticipation for this release was VERY HIGH as I was already in love with all things Neal Morse-related (SB, TA, his first two prog solo albums), so when this suite of 12 tracks came out, it was prog HEAVEN (no pun intended). The guest list on the album excited me even more, with names like Steve Hackett, Jordan Rudess, Alan Morse, and Roine Stolt (3/4ths of TA!), I knew it was going to be epic, and I was totally right! There isn't a moment or a movement on here that I don't dislike. Neal comes up with some fresh melodic ideas and employs his friends in the prog world to help him flesh them out. And it was on this album that Mike and Randy really gel and become a solid team with Neal, giving Randy some more playing room, while letting Mike go crazy on the drums even more (well, maybe not "Author Of Confusion" crazy...). Of all the albums Neal has done, this was, and still is a must-have!
Well...*whew*...there you have it, the end of the first half of this list!!! How are you guys keeping up?
-Marc.