What To Listen To With Lots of Time On Your Hands

I listen to a lot of music. Always have. These days, with a stay home, stay safe proclamation in place here in the great State of Washington, I'm listening to even more music than normal...and I will admit that my normal is not even close to normal for most people. This has been a true joy for me, but a huge frustration for my family who are all sequestered at home along with me...especially my wife and better half who has come to refer to herself as a headphone widow. Sorry Annie.

The thing is, time affords me the opportunity to dive down deep into musical rabbit holes. And my latest dive has been into the rabbit's hole of prog rock, it's many sub-genres, and the seemingly endless number of outstanding epic and complex albums that can be experienced. Triggering this dive was the newly remastered, re-release of Porcupine Tree's 2002 outstanding album In Absentia.

If you find that you too have lots of time on your hands...and I mean lots of time, I invite you to sit and listen....closely....to a few albums that I have been spending quite a bit of time with lately. These albums are long and complex. They are like onions that get pealed back, layer by layer, over multiple listens. It's a commitment for sure, but in doing so, you will get rewarded by these remarkable albums.

Porcupine Tree, In Absentia

"Since their debut in the early '90s, Porcupine Tree have never ceased to impress fans and critics alike. In Absentia is the band at their pinnacle. Its good to know that there are still bands out there that have their own distinctive sound. In some ways, Porcupine Tree are rocks best kept little secret. It's hard to imagine that a band this talented and creative, are still virtually unknown by other than those in their fanbase. In Absentia is a fusion of heavy metal, brit rock, and progressive. It is quite possibly their most accessible album. A great place to start for new fans." Ultimate Guitar

   

Supertramp, Crime Of The Century

Crime of the Century is the album that changed everything for Supertramp. After two albums that went largely unnoticed, Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies essentially rebuilt the band and, with producer Ken Scott, finally found the sound that would define them. Hodgson and Davies were very different songwriters and singers, but that contrast became one of the band’s greatest strengths.

Released in 1974, Crime of the Century mixes progressive rock with pop, jazz, and some wonderfully big arrangements. The piano and keyboards are everywhere, the production is fantastic, and there’s a melancholy running through much of the album that gives it a very distinctive feel. Fifty years later, it still sounds incredible. It’s a classic album and my favorite of the band.  

Genesis, Selling England By The Pound

Ranked at close to the top of every 'best of' prog rock albums list is Selling England By The Pound. On it's best of list (#2, sandwiched between King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King and Yes' Close to the Edge, with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at #4), Pop Matters wrote; "Selling England by the Pound is the most satisfying and fully realized Genesis recording, a period piece that recalls the past while being utterly of its time……It's elaborate but controlled, far-ranging but focused, and it achieves a unity -- in words, sound and especially feeling -- that necessarily ranks it as a high water mark of prog rock."

   

Marillion, Marbles

Marillion is one of those bands that I’m always surprised more people haven’t heard of. They’ve been making music since the early 1980s, and long after their brief period of mainstream success, they found a way to continue making music largely on their own terms.

They were also pioneers in using the internet to connect directly with their fans. In 2001, thousands of fans paid for Anoraknophobia a year before it was released, helping finance the recording and creating one of the earliest examples of what we now call crowdfunding. They returned to that model with Marbles, with more than 18,000 fans preordering the special edition and helping fund the campaign behind its release. It gave Marillion the freedom to make a sprawling double album without worrying about what a record company thought it should be.

And what an album they made. Marbles is atmospheric, melodic, progressive, and at times absolutely beautiful. There are songs that stretch well beyond ten minutes, but the album never feels long simply for the sake of being long. For me, it’s second only to Brave among Marillion albums. Marbles is a masterpiece from a band that far more people should know.   

The Dear Hunter, Act V: Hymns With The Devil In confessional

Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional is the fifth installment in The Dear Hunter’s ambitious series of concept albums telling the story of a character known simply as The Boy. By this point, Casey Crescenzo has been working on the story for more than a decade, and Act V picks up almost immediately where Act IV leaves off.

Musically, Act V continues the mix of progressive rock, orchestral music, and musical theater that has defined much of the series. There are strings, horns, piano, big vocal arrangements, and plenty of changes in direction throughout the album. Crescenzo also brings back melodies and musical themes from earlier Acts, tying different parts of the story together.

The story itself gets pretty dark on Act V, but you don’t have to follow every character or plot point to enjoy the album. I certainly don’t. There is so much happening musically that the songs stand on their own. It’s an ambitious album, but The Dear Hunter somehow make all of it work. Act V is a fantastic album and my favorites in the series.