Yes: Close to the Edge at 50
Sean MurphyListening to Yes is like listening to opera: the words are, or may as well be, in a different language. It’s all about the sounds: that voice, those instruments, that…
Robert Fripp at 75: The King of the Court
Happy 75th to an artist who has not merely helped shape and define whatever it is, exactly, prog rock has managed to encompass, but as a positive force for music:…
King Crimson’s ‘Lizard’ at 50
Considering that the only constant during the early years (and later, for that matter) of King Crimson was change, the quality and variety of their third and fourth albums are…
The 100 Best Classic Progressive Rock Songs Part 5: 20-1
Yes: “Awaken” (from Going for the One) 1977 was not only about clothespins and green-toothed sneers: just as punk was gaining steam, Yes, the band that represented everything everyone hated…
The 100 Best Classic Progressive Rock Songs Part 4: 40-21
Jethro Tull: “Heavy Horses” (from Heavy Horses) Meanwhile back in the year… 1978? It’s an embarrassing commentary on how close-minded so many folks are that they’ve probably never even heard…
The 100 Best Classic Progressive Rock Songs: Part 3, 60-41
Rush: “Cygnus X-1 Book One: The Voyage” (from A Farewell to Kings) Rush is now, rightly, in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (not that this dubious honor from…
The 100 Best Classic Progressive Rock Songs: Part 2, 80-61
King Crimson “Red” (from Red) The progenitors of math rock on their last album of the ‘70s. <i>Red</i> is the paradigm that every pointy-headed prog rock band worships at the…
The 100 Best Classic Progressive Rock Songs: Part 1, 100-81
Welcome back, my friends to the show that never ends. After gamely, if humbly attempting to track the 25 best old-school progressive albums of all time, it’s inevitable to turn…
Alligator Lizards in the Air: In Search of the Sublimely Awful Lyric (Revisited)
Intravenus de Milo Spinal Tap album I can think of a lot of rock bands who have written some laughably awful lyrics. So can you. Part of rock and roll's…
The Holy Trinity, Part One: Yes
Ah, Yes. Now that Rush is rightly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it seems safe to suggest that Yes officially assumes the heavyweight crown as the most…