Here we have it then, the big finish and the three to end my list:
3. Transatlantic - Bridge Across Forever (2001)
I've had a lot of great Neal Morse stuff on this list and with every album I kept on saying how it wasn't his best album. Well, here we finally have it. 'Bridge Across Forever' is fucking amazing and it's a shame I left it out on my initial list, only including 'The Whirlwind', simply because I had never even heard this one properly yet, to actually admire the absolute beauty that is this album. As many people on this forum will attest, as I've seen it high up on numerous other Top 50 lists, this is one of the best progressive rock albums of the last decade. Clocking in at almost 77 minutes, this album contains only 4 tracks, all of which are fantastic. The majestic opening song of almost 27 minutes, 'Duel With the Devil' is in my opinion the best track, but this is really just a matter of preference, since there is simply no bad moment on the album at all. 'Suite Charlotte Pike', the second track is more jam-orientated and the band clearly had fun writing that one. The title-track then is by far the shortest song of the bunch, at 5.5 minutes, but is one of the most beautiful ballads Neal Morse has written. The album ends with the longest song of the bunch, 'Stranger in Your Soul', at 30 minutes. This album contains much stuff the prog-enthusiast will enjoy; great licks, riffs, melodies and recurring themes through all of the songs. Every band member is on fire and shines in his own right, but with the fantastic line-up Transatlantic has, nothing should really go wrong. As of yet, I haven't had the fortune to see the band live, but with them writing a fourth album now, I'm sure I can catch them live next year and I definitely will. These songs beg to be heard and there's absolutely nothing wrong with this record at all. In fact, I think I can say this is the best progressive rock (not metal!) album of the past decade. It's simply that good.
Favourite song: Duel With the Devil
Other songs worth checking out: Well, yeah, the other three tracks maybe?
2. Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls (2008)
Here's one people who have seen my posts on this forums and who know me in person probably saw coming. I discovered this band after I saw them live at ProgPower Europe 2011, but didn't start listening to them until the beginning of 2012. Although I knew this album back when I did my first list, I didn't include it in the actual list, because I have this hard time limit of having to know an album at least 6 months before it can be included, but I did mention it as an honourable mention. 'Mercy Falls' is a progressive metal concept album about a comatose man who is fictitiously in a town called 'Mercy Falls' in his dreams, while his wife and son live in the real world, hoping to cure him. The stories of both world interact on numerous occasions in the story, but to me, that's not really a big point. You know, a concept album is nice, the story is well thought-out, but the music itself here is stunningly good. Seventh Wonder are a band with incredibly capable musicians and they like to show that off without being flashing. Take for example the song 'Welcome to Mercy Falls', in which the singer sings over very complicated riffs to create a massive mind-fuck and something new you can hear with every listen. Initially I thought this album might go down on my list, after having aged, but 'Mercy Falls' kept its redeeming quality and is to this date still an album I can regularly enjoy, even after having overplayed it a lot during the first couple of months I heard this. Since my first list, this is the best progressive metal album I have heard and it's definitely something a lot of people on these forums can possibly enjoy. Fantastic album!
Favourite song: A Day Away, Hide and Seek, Unbreakable
Other songs worth checking out: The rest of the album
1. Godspeed You Black Emperor! - F♯ A♯ ∞ (1997)
This is an unexpected one, isn't it? It was for me as well when I started making this list, but there was no other place to put this album than at #1. Now that I've done that, I feel it needs a lengthy explanation, but I don't really have much to say on this album. First off, I'm talking about the vinyl version of this album, not the CD version, although both are brilliant. For those who don't know the band, 'Godspeed You Black Emperor!' (as they were called when they released this, they later changed their name to 'Godspeed You! Black Emperor') are a post-rock band, but they are nothing like most post-rock bands that are around nowadays. Their heavy use of seemingly random pieces of music simply glued together, combined with field recordings and samples make this band sound really unique and it's not for everybody. In fact, I didn't like this band at all when I first heard them, dismissing them as 'boring' and having a lack of direction in the songs, but it was later that I realised that that's not the point of this band's music at all. These are no 'songs', these are pieces of music that set an incredible atmosphere. This album is called 'F♯ A♯ ∞', because on the vinyl version, the first side, called 'Nervous, Sad Poor..' is in F# while the second side, called 'Bleak, Uncertain, Beautiful..' is in A#. The infinity symbol comes from the second side as well, as vinyl gives you an option modern CDs or audio files don't have; the use of a locked groove at the end of the record, thus making it never end. This last thing is just one of the reasons the vinyl is better than the CD, but more importantly; these piece of music had been written and recorded in the way they appeared on the vinyl. On the CD version the band took both sides of the vinyl, mixed the different parts of the songs around and added some more stuff to create a CD that's almost twice the length of the vinyl. Because that's the thing, you can actually do that with this band's music. Although there is absolutely no clear indication of the names of the individual parts on the record sleeve (I only own the vinyl, so I can't comment on the CD, but on the
wikipedia page the names are given), it seems that the band could just swap the individual parts around to create something new. And in a sense, the CD version then became a completely different album.
Enough about the technical aspects of this album. Why should an album comprised of train noises, people speaking, random guitar sounds made by dragging a screwdriver up and down the neck and a preacher with bagpipes in the background be any good? Let alone the completely weird never-ending loop at the end? Because this album sets an atmosphere like no other album I know does and this is artistic experimentalism by a relatively modern band at its finest, as far as I'm concerned. Often called 'end of the world music', for lack of a better description, that's actually exactly what it sounds like. 'Godspeed You Black Emperor!' is the soundtrack to the end of the world and 'F♯ A♯ ∞'', although being their first album, is their finest work. I kind-of feel like I haven't really explained enough why this album ranks in the top spot on this second list of mine, but I can't really say much more. My best advice here is for everybody to just listen to this one and enjoy it. I can personally say that listening to this one spinning on my turntable while lying in bed with the lights out is one of the best sonic experiences I ever had. If you ever get the chance, do it. Or don't, but I guess that would be your loss. Then again, this one definitely isn't for everybody, but I love it.
Favourite song: lol
Other songs worth checking out: again, lol
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Thanks for reading, I've had a good time doing this once again, although it took me a bit longer than I had expected. I'll do the final round-up of the full list later today and I'll combine it with my previous list, to make a new top 50.
Topic: Elite's top 50 albums! v2: The Big Finish (Top 3!) (Read 24793 times)
