If we were to define "progressive" rock, I'd say that you'd first have to look at the beginning of rock itself. Rock started as a melding of blues, gospel, soul, and country. Think Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry. As Muddy Waters said, "The Blues had a baby, and they named the baby Rock and Roll." So we had all these blues and soul and country based acts. To me, "progressive" rock is rock that breaks away from the original roots. Therefore, classical and jazz were the initial inspirations, and to a lesser extent, world music (think George Harrison). I think today that "progressive rock" generally means rock that follows in the footsteps of the original prog-rockers:

rock music that challenges form and structure, time and instrumentation, complexity and theme.

Yesspaz now broke because that was his last two cents.

Or else it's like jazz: If you have to ask what it is, you'll never know.

the best definition I ever heard for progressive was: I can't define it, but I know it when I hear it.

As long as one remains open minded, that definition works pretty well

I always change my mind for top song

Close to the Edge or And you and I by Yes
Shine on you Crazy Diamond (pts 1-9) ,Echoes, or Dogs from Pink Floyd
Song for America or Icarus,Borne on Wings of Steel from Kansas
One from the Vine,Afterglow,Eleventh Earl of Mar from Genesis

It's very hard to choose just one song, but my all time favourite (today at 8:39 pm) is

Fountain of Salmacis....Genesis....Nursery Cryme

This song IMHO defines Genesis (Well early Genesis), great keyboards, excellent guitar, inteligent lyrics and Peter's voice at his peak. Too sad that drums on Nursery Cryme sound so poor.

Iván

Woof Woof
 

Tayo -

Dogs is a song no one really forwards as their favorite Floyd tune, but it is mine - a fantastic blend of acoustic guitar, dirty lead guitar, and space stuff in the middle. An excellent choice.

Ivan - is IMHO mean "In My Humble Opinion"?

Re: Woof Woof
 

I was lucky enough too see Roger Waters preform "Dogs" a couple years ago at Madison Square Garden during the "In The Flesh" tour.In my opinion,the highlight of the concert. I actually thought it sounded better then when Pink Floyd did it way back in 1977 during the "Animals" tour.

Floyd
 

I was always partial to Gilmour over Waters. However, I can see your point about Waters doing that song better. I've found Gilmour hit or miss live. Sometimes he sounds fantastic, and at others he can sound like crap (e.g. that guest performance with Pete Townsend on video).

I missed the Waters shows. As many shows as I've seen, I guess I could have traded in something like the Plasmatics for that (hey, it was high school)!


Or maybe the band were too stoned in 77, or you were not stoned enough.

Yes Rick and Roll, I use this initials because there's no absolutes in music, and probably some people will believe Fountain of Salmacis doesn't define Genesis or simply disagree with my opinion.

Iván

Gentle Giant
 

I love Gentle Giants: "Edge Of Twilight" because it is so haunting to me. It invokes some very interesting feelings. Excellent vocals!

The moon is down
Casting its shadow over the night-haunted town
Mystical figures under the silence of light

The trembling air
Drifts slowly unseen over the houses there
And echoes changing into the voices of night

On the edge of twilight whispering
Whisper, whisper, whisper, whisper,
On the edge of twilight whispering
Whisper, whisper, whisper, whisper

Elusive time
In limbo active in never ending mime
The edge of twilight into the darkness of day

The one?

Awaken - from Going for the One - Yes

This is my main inspiration for all moments.
The next is The Revealing Science of God, from Tales From Topographics Oceans, also from Yes.

>>>I was always partial to Gilmour over Waters.

It's all a matter of opinion, but to my mind there's never been a better musical example of "the whole exceeding the sum of the parts" than Waters and Gilmour. When they were working together and not going at each other's throats, they wrote some of the finest music we've ever been privileged to hear. On their own, they've produced some moderately interesting stuff (I like Gilmour's first album enough to own it, the rest of his and Waters' catalog I don't bother with), but nothing with the lasting impact of Floyd. And some people will disagree pretty loudly, but I find post-Waters PF for the most part lame, bloated, and uninteresting.

It's not my favorite Yes track or anything, but "On the Wings of Silent Freedom" is a major standout that sometimes gets forgotten. They played it a couple of months ago on the Gagliarchives and I realized I hadn't heard it in years. Worse, I don't own Tormato on CD, and even worse, my turntable needs repair. Thank God for the Internet and the quasi-legal downloading of MP3s. Hearing it on my cheesy computer speakers is much better than not hearing it at all.

And I can't believe with all the Yes fans around that no one's named "Starship Trooper" as a favorite track.

Yes it is, Floyd it is
 

I'm guessing that if you asked for a top 10 of Yes tunes, then Trooper would be in 90% of the lists (it would be on mine). It's just that there's always a tune that beats it out for "favorite".

Tormato is a real paradox. It gets routinely blasted, and the sound is of really poor quality, but it's got some bitchin' tunes. Freedom, Onward, Don't Kill The Whale, Release Release and Future Times are all great. For me, I just love Chris Squire, and those songs reek of his influence.

I just realized that I don't on it on CD either! What's going on here!

Good point about the Waters/Gilmour collaboration - why is it always that creative tension is so necessary? It sure does breed results. There are a few decent cuts on post-waters Floyd (Keep Talking is a gem) but I agree with your general assessment. I also find the Final Cut boring as hell, but that's me. I guess.

Another piece of evidence that their music was special - I always forget about how boring Nick Mason is!

Starship Trooper got to much radio play for any self-respecting prog rock enthusiast to declare it their favorite track. You can't be tossing around songs that an average person might actually recognize.

Re: Yes it is, Floyd it is
 

Final Cut - boring, agreed. Nick Mason boring - disagree. While far from the best drummer out there (I may be better than him), his taste is impeccable - every fill he does, however simple, is PERFECT for the music. I try to learn from all drummers I listen to, and from Nick Mason I've learned restraint and taste more than from any other drummer.

Re: Re: Yes it is, Floyd it is
 

Agree with you there Jim. Watching Live at Pompei film the other day I was VERY impressed with NM's work on that.....and it was beautifully filmed too!!

>>>every fill he does, however simple, is PERFECT for the music.

Absolutely. Nick does more with less than any drummer I know of. Most of the drummers that I admire tend to assault the drum kit like the Allies on Normandy Beach, but Mason is an exemplification of "less is more." Perfect for the Floyd sound, also, since Gilmour is much the same as a blues/rock guitarist.

Chuck Okun of Djam Karet spent his time at Mason's virtual feet, I feel sure.

And yes, The Final Cut is boring beyond belief, but it was essentially (as I understand it -- correct me if I'm wrong) a Waters solo album with Nick Mason, Michael Kamen replacing Rick Wright (gaaah), and very limited input from David Gilmour. Barely qualifies as an "official" PF album.

Masonry
 

Jim - I also show great restraint while drumming.

I'll concede one thing - he's more enjoyable than watching Hart & Kreutzmann (sp?) from the Dead beat on the stage with their sticks. Double Gaaaah!