MTG Salvation

Quote from DirkGently

King Crimson (Court of Crimson King, In the Wake of Poseidon) I know i'm gonna get in trouble from true prog fans for anything bad I say about old KC, but I did find some of the latter tracks on cotck to be sorta slow for my tastes. It was fun to notice the elements that have been integrated into later bands, though. 7.

I'll be honest, I consider myself a rather big KC fan, and even I typically skip most of Moonchild.

I think you should check out Steven Wilson's solo stuff (it's not on the spreadsheet) because it's fantastic.
I recommend:
Index
The Watchmaker
Raider II

A few days ago I saw this thread and realised that I totally forgotten to thank you for putting me onto Circus Maximus back when you first posted this. Then I saw the top 10. Now I have to thank you for Diablo Swing Orchestra too.

Quote from Volafortis

I'll be honest, I consider myself a rather big KC fan, and even I typically skip most of Moonchild.

I think you should check out Steven Wilson's solo stuff (it's not on the spreadsheet) because it's fantastic.
I recommend:
Index
The Watchmaker
Raider II

Hmm, I listened to all of index and Watchmaker, but I mostly found it too slow for my tastes. I don't mind long songs, obviously, but it needed more variation to keep me interested.

Quote from viperesque

A few days ago I saw this thread and realised that I totally forgotten to thank you for putting me onto Circus Maximus back when you first posted this. Then I saw the top 10. Now I have to thank you for Diablo Swing Orchestra too.

You're very welcome Glad to hear someone else has similar taste.

My newest "discoveries" are Ayreon, which is some epic metal opera convoluted sci-fi-themed prog metal, (The human Equation and 01011001 are amazing, and other stuff is solid too) and Turisas, which is extremely catchy, high-energy folk metal (mostly their latest album Stand Up and Fight, previous ones had too much harsh vocals for me). If you liked DSO and Circus Maximus, maybe you'll like them too?

Some favorite new songs:

Ayreon:
Day 2: isolation
The Sixth Extinction
Turisas:
March of the Varagian Guard

You didn't dig The Varangian Way? That has to be Turisas' best album. Although Stand Up and Fight is also pretty rad.

Quote from locifer

You didn't dig The Varangian Way? That has to be Turisas' best album. Although Stand Up and Fight is also pretty rad.

It was ok, but you know, harsh vocals don't usually do it for me.

Although, weirdly enough, I've been digging Opeth recently. Not my usual cup of tea exactly, but my iphone could use some more variation. Without straying outside the realm of prog metal, obviously. I'm not a goddamn renaissance man.

Also I now own everything Arjen Anthony Lucassen has ever made. My wallet is sore

Quote from DirkGently

It was ok, but you know, harsh vocals don't usually do it for me.

Although, weirdly enough, I've been digging Opeth recently. Not my usual cup of tea exactly, but my iphone could use some more variation. Without straying outside the realm of prog metal, obviously. I'm not a goddamn renaissance man.

Also I now own everything Arjen Anthony Lucassen has ever made. My wallet is sore

I'm guessing Heritage?

I'm not sure what Opeth you're rocking, but Damnation and Heritage are two albums with all clean vocals. Still Life is incredible if you are feeling like digging into some harsh vocals.

Also I picked up the latest from Edenbridge, The Bonding, and it's really solid. I don't think it's MyEarthDream quality, but it's pretty close.

Finally go find these:
Alcest (they're black metal, but you might dig the album Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTM9x-fEMwo

You'll want to look into more Devin Townsend. He does harsh vocals, but he's so prolific that he has albums of just about every style. You'll probably like things from albums like Epicloud, Infinity, Ocean Machine: Biomech (personal favorite), and Ki. You should also look into Ziltoid the Omniscient if you like concept albums, it's a ridiculous over the top rock opera with some rad guitarwork (especially on Solar Winds).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX_hoYYR3E4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLPnnm7Y2QY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3-NQvRmo3I

Tesseract - Altered State (it's periphery style djent with clean vocals)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqLPb0_ygKk

Junius (kind of shoegaze/space rock)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JU3W9itQXY

Ghost (a modern classic heavy metal band)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQDaWoWwqdM

T.R.A.M. (a jazz outfit with members of Animals as Leaders, The Mars Volta, and Suicidal Tendencies)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBX8an0PY5c

Maudlin of the Well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnDS_socrck

Kayo Dot (picks up where maudlin left off)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAFxR6Yicbw

Actually not Heritage, I was reading reviews on angry metal guy and he recommended ghost reveries and blackwater park, so i got those two. I don't love the harsh vocals, but the cleans are usually very nice and the instrumentals are fantastic. I did listen to some of heritage and didn't like it as much, weirdly enough, but maybe i'll try damnation. I've also heard still life is good.

I also got the bonding, not as great as some of their other stuff but still fun. They've had enough good songs on their previous 4 albums that I'm not terribly worried about scratching that particular musical itch, though, it's pretty well covered.

Oddly enough I've heard ziltoid the omniscient, it popped up on prog archives and it sounded bizarre enough that I had to check it out. Really didn't like the actual songs, but the lyrics were pretty funny.

Anyway I'll check out the rest later. At some point I should probably update the spreadsheet with my newer stuff, I've added a few hundred by now.

It's been a while since I've updated, but my library hasn't been standing still. I'll just make a few quick updates of the best new stuff I've added:

The Theory of Everything (Ayreon) - Ayreon's been growing on me since I added his discography to my collection, but this album is, imo, by far his best. The plot mostly makes actual sense and has much better emotional elements than the weird alien plot of previous albums, and the structure of the album into 4 long songs with many different styles and beautiful evolving and recurring themes, fits perfectly with what I want out of my prog. Unreservedly a 10/10 and my new favorite album of all time. Even if he does try to rhyme "cooler" with "loser" at one point.

The pathway (Anthriel) - Fun power metal with some solid hooks. 8.

Voice in the light (Amaran's Plight) - This album keeps blending with The pathway in my memory, since they have similar names and genres. Anyway let's say a 7.

Lost in the New Real (Arjen Anthony Lucassen) - Not exactly sure what Arjen wasn't getting out of his million other projects, but apparently he wanted to do a solo album. Anyway the plot is really cool, nice hard sci-fi stuff that's still relatable, and Rutger Hauer does nice work. 8.5.

On this Perfect Day (Guilt Machine) - Even more Arjen. Clearly the dude has my number, as well as my height. Another solid, if more serious, album, but imo it really shines in the last track, which makes the top 10 list easily. 9.