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Frank Zappa: Jazz From Hell (Yesterday's Jukebox)

Frank Zappa's complex, electronic masterpiece showed what the late, great maestro could achieve by removing the human element and harnessing the power of a machine.

Music

Threefifty: Gently Among the Coals

It's rare to find a band so unbeholden to genre as Threefifty.

Music

Mike Keneally: Scambot 2

The most brilliant multi-instrumentalist you’ve never heard of releases a stunning new album that sounds like a rock opera co-written by Thomas Pynchon and Kurt Vonnegut.

Music

Reappraising Ian Anderson's 'Minstrel in the Gallery'

Minstrel in the Gallery seems as autobiographical as any Jethro Tull album, before or after, and there is a vulnerability and sensitivity that the songwriter was simply growing into.

Music

Fractal Mirror: Garden of Ghosts

Fractal Mirror's sophomore set reaffirms the Dutch band's sophisticated sensibilities and makes a stunning step forward.

Music

Bart: Bart By Bart EP

If you like ‘70s music with the hint of a modern edge, Bart By Bart will more than fit the bill.

Music

He Can Do Quite a Few Things: Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips and Electric Würms

The Flaming Lips' Steven Drozd talks with PopMatters about new group Electric Würms, his thoughts on progressive rock, and decades of musical exploration.

Music

Asia: Gravitas

Gravitas is pleasant enough, but with watered-down pomp and too much texture, the men of Asia don't bring enough heat to the moment.

Music

The Alan Parsons Project: I Robot (Legacy Edition)

There's some great, if hokey, material to be had on I Robot, and yet it is also hugely entertaining and a must have for geeks interested in the late '70s sci-fi landscape

Music

'Portnoy Sheehan MacAlpine Sherinian' Deliver Impressive Prog and Fusion

Four titans of progressive rock demonstrate their individual and collective genius. The virtuosity is dizzying but no one gets hurt.

Reviews

I've Seen All Good People: An Interview with Yes

One day, Jon Davison was singing in a Yes tribute band. Then, he actually became the touring lead singer of Yes. Now, he shares his tale, along with how he and the band prepping to play three albums in full every night of their upcoming tour ...

Music

The Best Progressive Rock (and Metal) of 2012

The albums you see below are a testament to the chameleonic nature of prog: Coldplay-esque stadium ballads, sludge metal, sample-heavy concept records, and classic-style prog all stand side by side.

Brice Ezell, Jordan Blum, Craig Hayes

Music

Muse: The 2nd Law

The grand irony for Muse is that the entropic metaphor of The 2nd Law reflects the major flaws in their sonic choices, not some important fact of the human condition.

Music

The Smashing Pumpkins: Oceania (take 2)

Oceania is a prog rock record. The songs might not be as long, but the sounds and the themes are just as portentous as all that dinosaur rock of the 1970s. And it's just as boring, too.

Music

The Best Progressive Rock of 2011

In 2011, there were only a few high-quality progressive rock releases, but those that managed to stand out are some of the best the genre has seen in awhile.

Brice Ezell

Music

Pop Ten

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

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Frank Zappa's complex, electronic masterpiece showed what the late, great maestro could achieve by removing the human element and harnessing the power of a machine.

It's rare to find a band so unbeholden to genre as Threefifty.

The most brilliant multi-instrumentalist you’ve never heard of releases a stunning new album that sounds like a rock opera co-written by Thomas Pynchon and Kurt Vonnegut.

Minstrel in the Gallery seems as autobiographical as any Jethro Tull album, before or after, and there is a vulnerability and sensitivity that the songwriter was simply growing into.

Fractal Mirror's sophomore set reaffirms the Dutch band's sophisticated sensibilities and makes a stunning step forward.

If you like ‘70s music with the hint of a modern edge, Bart By Bart will more than fit the bill.

The Flaming Lips' Steven Drozd talks with PopMatters about new group Electric Würms, his thoughts on progressive rock, and decades of musical exploration.

Gravitas is pleasant enough, but with watered-down pomp and too much texture, the men of Asia don't bring enough heat to the moment.

There's some great, if hokey, material to be had on I Robot, and yet it is also hugely entertaining and a must have for geeks interested in the late '70s sci-fi landscape

Four titans of progressive rock demonstrate their individual and collective genius. The virtuosity is dizzying but no one gets hurt.

King Crimson, as much as or more than any other prog rock band, consistently shaped and refined a unique vision, arguably creating whole new types of music in the process.

One day, Jon Davison was singing in a Yes tribute band. Then, he actually became the touring lead singer of Yes. Now, he shares his tale, along with how he and the band prepping to play three albums in full every night of their upcoming tour ...

The albums you see below are a testament to the chameleonic nature of prog: Coldplay-esque stadium ballads, sludge metal, sample-heavy concept records, and classic-style prog all stand side by side.

The grand irony for Muse is that the entropic metaphor of The 2nd Law reflects the major flaws in their sonic choices, not some important fact of the human condition.

Oceania is a prog rock record. The songs might not be as long, but the sounds and the themes are just as portentous as all that dinosaur rock of the 1970s. And it's just as boring, too.

In 2011, there were only a few high-quality progressive rock releases, but those that managed to stand out are some of the best the genre has seen in awhile.