| # | Song | Artist | Album | Year |
| 70 | Prologue | Renaissance | Prologue | 1972 |
| 69 | Pictures of a City | King Crimson | In the Wake of Poseidon | 1970 |
| 68 | Eruption | Focus | Moving Waves | 1971 |
| 67 | One for the Vine | Genesis | Wind and Wuthering | 1976 |
| 66 | Knife-Edge | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Emerson, Lake & Palmer | 1970 |
| 65 | And You and I | Yes | Close to the Edge | 1972 |
| 64 | Tomorrow Never Knows | The Beatles | Revolver | 1966 |
#70) Band: Renaissance. Song: Prologue. From the Album Prologue (1972)
Renaissance did not hit their stride until their third album, Prologue, when the band rebooted with new management and almost a whole new lineup of musicians. Annie Haslam remained from their first two albums and has indeed been the “sound” of Renaissance throughout their long career. Annie is one of the very few women to have made their mark on the progressive rock movement.
The revamped band comes charging out of the gate with this opening song, the title track. It begins with a classical melody which quickly modulates, gets a somewhat-disco rock beat and then is joined by Annie’s angelic voice. This spirited opening track lays the foundation for the band’s reboot with piano-heavy, classical-tinged tunes elevated by Annie’s soprano even on instrumental-based songs like this. Love when Annie takes it higher and higher as in the last strains of this great tune.
Prologue from Renaissance
#69) Band: King Crimson. Song: Pictures of a City. From the Album In the Wake of Poseidon (1970)
A concert favorite from the bands’ second album, this song brings the raw power that lead guitarist Robert Fripp sought. Fripp seemed destined to be a banker or an academic but once he heard Jimi Hendrix on the radio, he knew his life would change. The young Robert shifted from studying jazz guitar to playing rock and roll. The power brought by Hendrix would echo in Fripp’s playing through the ages of King Crimson. In this early work, power chords and punchy drumming keep the song interesting. Fripp and his band would broaden their interests to more asymmetric polyrhythms and extreme dynamics by the end of the decade but always built around a core of pure power. Not what one expects from the professorial man-in-black Fripp but that adds to its intrigue. I love the saxophone sound partnered with guitar, and Greg Lake’s vocals provide both an edge and also warmth to this track.
Pictures of a City by King Crimson
#68) Band: Focus. Song: Eruption. From the Album Moving Waves (1971)
If you know the Dutch band Focus, it’s almost certainly from their hit “Hocus Pocus” which is also on this album. “Eruption” contains some moments of similar feel but instead of whimsy, this track plays as dead serious. It’s no joke, spread across 15 parts which I will not parse. It plays as a modern classical piece of music but with the orchestration of a rock band. The whole hangs together nicely, shifting from jazz fusion to straight ahead 4/4 rock and roll to atmospheric chanting. You won’t hear yodeling here but there are some vocal strains (a la Annie Haslam in “Prologue”) to accompany the instrumentation. If you’re wondering who’s shredding on the guitar, that would be Jan Akkerman. He was named the world’s greatest rock guitarist fifty years ago by Melody Maker magazine’s readers. He and band co-founder Thijs Van Leer (flute, vocals, keyboards) are still alive in their seventies and representing the Netherlands.
Eruption by Focus
#67) Band: Genesis. Song: One for the Vine. From the Album Wind and Wuthering (1976)
By the time Genesis released Wind and Wuthering, they were already on the downhill slope of their climb up (and down) the prog mountain. At their height, Peter Gabriel penned lyrics about the supernatural or the fantastic, and the band wrote epic musical pieces that formed one of the pillars of the genre. Their apex was the concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974), after which Peter left the band. They still had a few progressive albums up their sleeves but with Phil Collins coming to the forefront, Genesis inexorably became a hit-making machine at the expense of those sprawling epics. They largely left progressive music in 1980 with the album Duke which successfully combined a pseudo-concept album with pop sensibilities.
But back to “One for the Vine.” This track begins melodically with a delicate touch through the first half. The mellotron provides a light, airy feel before the pace picks up halfway through the tune. After the quirky midsection passes, the song returns to the mellotron and ends with more well-constructed phrases. A mature piece of music from a mature band.
One for the Vine by Genesis
#66) Band: Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Song: Knife-Edge. From the Album Emerson, Lake & Palmer (debut) (1970)
We get to hear from Greg Lake a bit more on Knife Edge also from 1970 like Pictures of a City (#69). Lake really got around during this era and who could blame him–with that voice and his melodic bass lines, Lake would be a valuable member of any band. He left King Crimson in the middle of 1970 and formed ELP with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer, one of rock’s first “supergroups.” This is another powerful rocker with musical quotes from prior, obscure classical pieces. The sheer force and technique of Carl Palmer’s drumming melds perfectly with the electric keyboards of Emerson and Lake’s vocals. We’ll shine a light on Keith Emerson’s piano playing down the road. For now this rocker provides a nice entry in the ELP catalog. I’ve always wondered why tracks like this do not become hits. This is not a long song, it’s melodic and powerful, just a touch on the weird side. I suppose music got placed into lanes back in the day and this wasn’t pop or even clearly rock. Progressive rock historically drew disdain from music critics and rarely broke through to hit status. The silver-lining: hopefully dozens of gems for you to discover in this list.
Knife-Edge by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
#65) Band: Yes. Song: And You and I. From the Album Close to the Edge (1972)
Joining Annie Haslam in the upper registers, Jon Anderson’s distinctive voice carries Yes through the decades. This band has no weak points. Dropping bombs on the bass is Chris Squire; Bill Bruford brings both a jazz feel and impeccable precision on the drum kit; caped-crusader and imp Rick Wakeman handles keyboard duties with the obligatory mellotron; and Steve Howe’s finger-picking both introduce the song and close the track with his signature sound. This piece is in four parts but they string together seamlessly, bound with the beautiful if cryptic lyrics. Is this a love song? The story of a man’s life? Jon Anderson maintains that his lyrics are chosen based on their sounds more than their meaning. To my ear, they perfectly complement the music which is exactly what Anderson wanted to evoke. This may be as close to a prog rock “love song” as we’ll get. I’ll take it and slot it in that category though it hardly matters. Typically, power and sophistication and complication make prog rock songs interesting to me. This is a simpler, pretty tune. It is organic and earthy–a wonderful encapsulation of its creator Jon Anderson. We will hear from Yes again and often as they’re clearly on the Mount Rushmore of 70s progressive bands.
And You and I by Yes
#64) Band: The Beatles. Song: Tomorrow Never Knows. From the Album Revolver (1966)
Breaking a few rules here but, hey, it is my list. The Beatles as a progressive rock band? No, but this track fits the bill. The influence and importance of this track hit me a few years back when I completed the exercise of listening to all of the Beatles’ studio albums in order. It’s fun to hear them mature from bubble-gum pop to rock and roll with more sophisticated lyrics in their middle phase. Listening to this track in the context of what came before is even more jarring than hearing it as a stand-alone tune (which is pretty jarring anyway). By this point in their evolution, the Beatles were maturing as musicians, discovering eastern philosophy, had access to piles of money and experimented with a variety of drugs. That stew was distilled and wrangled into this masterpiece of production by John Lennon and George Martin. It still sounds fresh after nearly sixty years and it broke down barriers which would lead to Sgt Peppers, Pet Sounds, and Progressive Rock proper. This track is central to the evolution of rock and roll and a precursor to what rock bands could do in this more modern age of music. If you don’t like a song from 1966 making the list of top 70 prog songs from the 70’s, then just concede that it was at least four years ahead of its time and it’s all good.
Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles
You say you’ve heard this track a hundred times? Check out this bonus link, Michael Hedges’ treatment of Tomorrow Never Knows on his last album:
Tomorrow Never Knows covered by Michael Hedges
