August 12, 2025 • 23 mins
Join @TheBuzzKnight with Media Executive Lee Abrams on this episode counting down his top ten progressive rock albums of all time. Lee continues to have an impact on the new media landscape as he and Steve Saslow have announced the launch of Newsfix Digital Media, a 24/7 interactive, multi-platform news and information experience. Lee is known for being on the creative team for XM Radio and he continues to be a lifelong fan of progressive rock music.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm buzs Knight and welcome to another episode of Taking
a Walk. This is the podcast where we stroll through
music history, one story at a time.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Today, we're going to dive deep into the mind of
legendary radio innovator.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Media innovator Lee Abrams.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
We're going to count down his picks for the top
ten best progressive rock albums of all time. So, whether
you're a lifelong prog rock fan or just curious about
the genre's wildest sonic adventures, this episode promises to challenge
your expectations and definitely expand your playlist.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's coming up after these words, Taking a Walk, Lee Abrams,
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Great to be here, Great to see you again.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Always great. So we're not in person. We have walked
actually in person in your backyard in the suburbs of Chicago.
But since the podcast is called Taking a Walk, if
you could take a walk with somebody, living or dead,
(01:10):
who would you take a walk with? Then where do
you think you'd take a walk with him?
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I'd like to do a walk with like Einstein, probably
learn a few things from him, and it would be
along the beach somewhere talking about the universe.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I feel like he'd have something to say.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, I think he'd have a few good points. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
What do you think he'd think of the world today though?
That's what I want to know right.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Oh, he'd be freaked out. Yeah yeah. I mean you
read about what he said about the future and it's
kind of scary and he's not that far off, So yeah,
he'd be freaked out by it. I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah. Well, this episode is going to be focused on
one of your favorite topics and one of my favorite topics,
which is progressive rock albums, and specifically your top ten
on the progressive rock album list. But before we get
to it, do you what was the first time you
(02:11):
were personally impacted and just enamored with a progressive rock
band and you know what yielded being so impacted by him?
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Well, there were really a couple. The first one was
Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd, which
was just so eccentric and had great songs, and you know,
Sid Barrett was a mad genius himself, and it really
his personality came out on that album and it was
it was pretty mind blowing because I had never heard
(02:45):
of him. I just was at a record store and
saw kind of a cool cover and bought it and
went home, and that was that.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
It was great and it was one of those things.
I bet that you put it on and then you said,
I got to listen to that again, and I got
to listen to that again.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
I'll fix the grooves on that one for sure, And
it was just such a you know, nobody had ever
created music like that before. It was probably more psychedelic
than progressive, but at the time it was very advanced.
And Side Too had a cut called Interstellar Overdrive, which
was I think eighteen or twenty minutes long, So I
(03:21):
think that was the first really long song I got into.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
And when you were first getting into programming radio stations,
did progressive rock fit into that immediately or did it
take some time? Oh?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
No, I think early on ELP and yes, and to
a certain degree Jethrotel and some other bands. We played
Court of the Crimson King and so, No, it was
definitely a component. Some of it was again just too long.
I mean we'd play it maybe at night or overnights,
but the more melodic stuff was great, no problem, and
(04:01):
we integrated it easily into the mix.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
What role did album artwork and packaging play in the
progressive rock experience?
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Oh, it was part of the completeness of a great
progressive rock album. And not only had the music going,
but it had that visual that really captured the particularly
Roger Dean who did all the Yes covers, and also
Hypnosis which did Pink Floyd and a lot of other bands.
(04:34):
It was just it was an art piece in its
own and again it reflected the album. It was an
extension of what you heard in the grooves, and so
I think it was. It had a lot of impact.
And again some of those artists, the Roger Dean's and
Hypnosis is really were as adventurous in their art as
the artists were in their music.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
I remember, I think you came up with this branded
feature for radio stations. I'm sure you did, and it
yields this question. Remember for headphones only?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Of course?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, I love that. So do you remember the first
moment you got a headphones?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yes, it was a pair of those costs. I forgot
the name of them, but everybody cool had one. They
had the liquid pads and the first album was Sergeant Pepper.
I remember I got that album and listened to it
(05:38):
on the home stereo and it was like, Wow, I
wonder what it sounds like in headphones. So I went
to E. J. Corvette's got some headphones and that really
was an eye opening experience, ear opening experience.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
That made all the difference. Didn't hit the headphones?
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Oh god. Yeah, I still listen almost exclusively in headphones,
just because you hear the nuances and headphones today you
know the quality is great and you just hear all
the subtleties. So well, I love headphones.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
So before we get to the list, are there any
bands or albums that in your mind nearly made the
cut but they just missed the top ten?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Oh god, that's a good question. I would say there
are a lot of albums by Well, yeah, there was
one very obscure one. It was a Chicago band called
Aorta and it was on Columbia Records, and it's very obscure,
but it was great and I still listened to it
today and that would have made my list, but when
(06:45):
I looked at the top ten, it wasn't quite there.
But that was one of them that pretty obscure but
really interesting and eye opening.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Okay, one last thing we have to disclose is I know, oh, yes,
we'll be on this list, and I know your affection
and mine for Yes runs very deep. But your connection
with Yes even includes you getting producing credit at one point?
(07:16):
Am I correct on that?
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yeah, me and Chris Squire worked on the Drama album
together under a company called Onward, and we didn't make
a big deal of it because of my involvement in radio.
But yeah, I was pretty deeply involved in that one.
And it was unfortunate because John Anderson and Rick Makhen
were around for that album. But it's a good album.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Otherwise, I think it's a great album. Yeah, all right,
without further ado. And what I love about this it's
going to spark questions and controversy and good hearted arguments,
and that's why we're here doing this. So let's start
with number ten on your list, Lee Abrams, of the
top ten progressive rock albums of all time. Wish I
(08:00):
had the drum roll. Maybe we'll do that in post
that production.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Okay, Number ten, Dark Side of the Moon. We were
talking about album covers. I think the music on that
record sounds just like the cover, very kind of dark
and cinematic and conceptual, you know, great record obviously survived
(08:26):
the test of time. I think it's still on the
Billboard chart and maybe not, but you know, it's It
was a groundbreaking record for progressive rock because it opened
the door to so many listeners say hey, this is
kind of cool, and they would try other bands of
that genre. So it was a monumental album. I mean,
that's number ten.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Do you think the Wizard of Oz thing was just
an accident that people who synced them up together and you.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Were I mean, so as you know, if you play
a Beatles background backwards, it turned me on dead Man.
You know, No, I don't believe any of that stuff.
It's clever and interesting, but no, I don't think it
was planned. I think they were too busy to do that.
And I actually asked Alan Parsons about it once and
he was like, he just rolled his eyes. Right.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
So there's number ten, Kink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon,
number nine.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
At number nine, checking in its Court of the Crimson
King by King Crimson. You know, speaking of Yes, there
is a band that Yes saw very early on play
at the UFO Club. It's from club in London and
got with the guys after the show and said, boys
we got to practice more because they were so good
(09:47):
and ahead of their time, and that had a lot
of the equalities of great progressive rock records. It was very,
very clever, brilliant playing, brilliant production, interesting arrangement, and just
an amazing breakthrough album. Again turned a lot of people
onto other bands just with this new sound.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I love that one. And do you think they were
foreshadowing the future with the song twenty first century Schizoid Man.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah? Probably, Yeah, they were ahead of their tie.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, all right, King Crimson in at number nine and
now let's roll the number eight.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Number eight is a We're a little little obscure, but
really good. And that is Friends of Mister Cairo by
John and Van gellis another kind of yes off feude
and what's great about that The title track is just
a cinematic masterpiece. Talk about headphones. If there was ever
a song designed for headphones, it was Friends of Mister
(10:49):
Cairo the song and also had I think it had
State of Independence on it, which became a hit for
Donna Summer. That's an interesting story. Quincy Jones called and said,
what I need a song for Donna Summer? What do
you know? What do you have, and so I sent
him an ascetate of friends of State of Independence and
(11:12):
he said, that's it, and he went with it. It's great,
So progressive rock touches disco in that case. But it
was a great underappreciated album. I think PolyGram didn't really
do a very good job promoting it here because it
was pretty big overseas, and Vangelis added a whole new
dimension to it. And he was actually auditioned Van Gelis
(11:36):
to replace Rick Wakeman, yes back in the mid seventies.
And the problem was he overtook the band. I mean,
he was the center. He just had such command that
the rest of them just sent around with the armsfold
and wondering when he's going to quit. And he also
couldn't play the same thing twice.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Oh is that right?
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah, so that'd be hard to tour with. But a
brilliant guy and paired with John, it just it just worked.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
That's a good one. That's that's one out of out
of left field for sure, Yeah, but a good one.
It'll spark it'll spark some memories for people, for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
And if they had never heard of it, should pick
it up or download it. It's really good.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
All right, let's move up the ladder.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Number seven is well, we talked about it Piper at
the Gates of Dawn. Pink Floyd again, very original, very eclectic.
It was the album that really showed us what Sid
Barrett was capable of. Unfortunately said of course didn't stick
around very long because of some acid problems. But what
(12:45):
a what a great again when it came out, it
was so fresh, so different, and I unfortunately know a
lot of Pink Floyd fans have never heard it. So
I would encourage people who are fans not to expect
Dark Side of the Wind of the Wall, but for
a really almost amusing, eccentric record with great songs, that
would be the one.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
What's up on number six?
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Number six and a countdown is the Moody Blues Days
of Future Past, I think the first concept album and
you know Knights and White Satin. A little burned out
on that one, but when it came out that Tuesday afternoon,
the whole concept of it was great with the orchestra
and it just worked. And it was a tough one
because I love the Moody Blues and went through about
(13:33):
all of the mainly their first seven and the couple
in the eighties and it was hard to pick one,
but I had to go with this one because it
was so revolutionary at the time and I was a
staying power.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I'm so glad you bring up the Moody Blues because
I think in this you know, current state, even the
current state really of classic rock, they're sort of, you know,
somewhat forgotten, and they should couldn't be. They were such an
integral part of the landscape.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Oh I know, yeah, I know they've kind of fallen
through the cracks, but my god, they still well had
broken up, but when they were still together a couple
of years ago, they still packed in the arenas. They
have an audience. But yeah, I'm surprised radio hasn't embraced
him more.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
They shouldn't be forgotten. The Moody Blues in at number six. Yes,
and now we're heading into the territory that I think
is going to really start some of the sparring. What's
up on number five?
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Okay, this is controversial because technically it's not progressive rock,
but I think it's very progressive. And that's magical Mystery
Tour by the Beatles. I mean, they had melotrons just
listening to I Am the Walrus in Headphones. That was
such an adventurous record and maybe overshadowed by the White
(14:53):
Album and Abbey Road and Sergeant Pepper, but from a
standpoint of very progressive, very interesting, I think that was
the one again I Am the waal Res Blue Jayway.
Some of the songs again once again in Headphones are
just like brilliant. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
All right, Well I'm buying your your argument. I'm putting
it in there so you have no argument for me
on that one. Number four, okay, coming in at number four.
Number four.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Nursery Crimes by Genesis. This was another one that was
very similar to the Moody Blues, and it was hard
to pick. They had so many great albums. I like
that one for I love Steve Hackett. It's playing on
that is great. And there was a song Fountain of
Salamisis which just blew my mind then and still does.
That took that album into the top ten. But again, Genesis,
(15:51):
I could have picked seven eight other ones for sure,
but it was a great record.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I mean, Genesis is. The legacy of Genesis is remarkable
when you think about, you know, the incarnations of the band, right.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Oh, yeah, absolutely, And now they've seamlessly went from the
long extended pieces into the more pop stuff, but never
really lose their lost their adventurous edge. I mean, even
though the Phil Collins oriented stuff in the eighties was,
you know, it's pretty adventurous, pretty pretty progressive. So that
(16:27):
was a hard one, but I went with the nursery crimes.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Good Number three is ELP's Trilogy. I noticed a lot
of bands it takes them their third album to really
get in the groove, and I think this one really
got the ELP sound down. Emerson's playing is remarkable, particularly
(16:51):
on the song Trilogy. I mean the piano intro is
just like with no no metronome or drummer. He just
flows beautifully. And some great great songs on it too.
I think very melodic of an album. You know what
it did it for me? It balanced musical precision, musical
(17:17):
excellence with great melodies. All the songs had great melodies,
and you know, melody is such a key to progressive rock.
What I find what makes progressive great is the songs
are cinematic, where you close your eyes and a movie
unfolds in front of you. They're clever, Yes, they're particularly clever.
It's just the endings of yours into this grace or
(17:38):
heart of the sunrise. I mean, it's it just blows
people away, that degree of cleverness, brilliant playing, brilliant production.
Trilogy had Eddie Offferd who did all the yes records
too in the ELP and just got that sound, a
very wide screen sound. And what kills progressive rock I
(18:03):
think are endless doodling at the expense of melody, And
I credit ELP for as they never went overboard in
the doodling. They sure could have, but they always maintained uh,
you know, a melodic structure and you could actually hum
their songs even though they were very advanced instrumentally.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
And since drummers are such an important backbone of progressive rock,
obviously the great Carl Palmer, who I think is really
not as appreciated as he should be as well.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
No he's not. Yeah, he's a great drummer. He's still around,
you know, touring, and he's really good. Some insiders said
he couldn't keep time, but I never noticed that he
sounded fright in time to me. Yep, but I didn't
play with them.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Yeah, okay, Number two.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Okay, we're in the top two. Now Close to the
Edge by Yes, Just Magne, some majestic, soaring album. The
song close to the Edge is a journey and I'll
never forget the first time I listened to it, what
are they doing? But by about the tenth listeners, Oh,
(19:13):
I get it. It's just it's really amazing that it's
amazing how they put it together and how they actually
perform it because there's so many sections and so many
links between the sections, and so many different things happening.
But at the end of the day, you know it's
a it's a journey and you're very satisfied by it.
And the other two tracks Iberian Katrue was a real smoker,
(19:37):
and You and I was just pastoral gorgeous. And what's
great about those records They sounded as good live as
they did on the album, so they had but the
fact that they could reproduce those live always put me away.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I love that one. That's a that's a great one.
They're all great. So here we We're.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Up Here we are Yes the number one album. Okay,
this one changed my life. It is the Yes album
by Yes. When I first heard it, I was at
home late at night Sunday night. Wanted to hear some music,
and all the FM stations were doing public affairs or something,
(20:21):
so I turned over to this AM station, the middle
of the road AM station WGBS that had a underground
DJ on at night for some reason, China Vallas was
his name. So anyway, I tuned on WGBS, knowing maybe
they're playing some music, and I caught the first bar.
What I realized now I was like the first couple
(20:42):
of bars of Starship Trooper, and I'd never heard anything
like that. I got chills. It was everything. It was cinematic,
brilliant playing, brilliant production, wide screen, amazing melodies. It was
just mind blowing. So about eleven o'clock at night, I
was working on WNYQ. We're setting up a new VM
(21:06):
station nineteen seventy one, and I remember seeing the album
going through all the records we had, and I went
down there at eleven thirty midnight, got the album and
never looked back. I still listened to it almost every day.
It's just magic. And talk about another Headphones record, I mean,
(21:27):
but it had all the characteristics. It was just it
was really a stunningly beautiful album. Colorful, cinematic, just gorgeous
production and those melodies, oh my god, they're just great.
And the playing was Steve Howe and Chris Squire in
particular were just amazing. And Bill Bruford on drums. What
(21:51):
I loved about him was his subtlety. He was more
of a jazz player. And if you listen to a
song like Starship Prooper listened to the drum, it's so
and airy, but it just works, and that might be
my favorite YES lineup. In fact, I thought Tony Kay
was brilliant with the ham and organ. I mean on
(22:12):
YouTube you can hear the songs like yours is no
disgrace isolated, just organ. It's not dutally or playing fast
or anything. It's just powerful. Yeah, he got that B
three sound and it just roared and just everything worked
on that record. It was so amazing.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
That's great, Lee. There's no one that I would rather
be speaking with as far as a countdown of the
top ten progressive rock albums of all time than you
appreciate that. I absolutely love your background on it, and
love everything that you talk about here and love you
(22:52):
for all your work, and thanks for sharing these thoughts
on on the Top ten Progressive rock albums of all time.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
My Pleasure and when you want to do number eleven
through twenty let me know that sounds good. Thank you
all right, great.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm buzs Knight and welcome to another episode of Taking
a Walk. This is the podcast where we stroll through
music history, one story at a time.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Today, we're going to dive deep into the mind of
legendary radio innovator.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Media innovator Lee Abrams.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
We're going to count down his picks for the top
ten best progressive rock albums of all time. So, whether
you're a lifelong prog rock fan or just curious about
the genre's wildest sonic adventures, this episode promises to challenge
your expectations and definitely expand your playlist.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's coming up after these words, Taking a Walk, Lee Abrams,
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Great to be here, Great to see you again.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Always great. So we're not in person. We have walked
actually in person in your backyard in the suburbs of Chicago.
But since the podcast is called Taking a Walk, if
you could take a walk with somebody, living or dead,
(01:10):
who would you take a walk with? Then where do
you think you'd take a walk with him?
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I'd like to do a walk with like Einstein, probably
learn a few things from him, and it would be
along the beach somewhere talking about the universe.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I feel like he'd have something to say.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, I think he'd have a few good points. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
What do you think he'd think of the world today though?
That's what I want to know right.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Oh, he'd be freaked out. Yeah yeah. I mean you
read about what he said about the future and it's
kind of scary and he's not that far off, So yeah,
he'd be freaked out by it. I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah. Well, this episode is going to be focused on
one of your favorite topics and one of my favorite topics,
which is progressive rock albums, and specifically your top ten
on the progressive rock album list. But before we get
to it, do you what was the first time you
(02:11):
were personally impacted and just enamored with a progressive rock
band and you know what yielded being so impacted by him?
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Well, there were really a couple. The first one was
Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd, which
was just so eccentric and had great songs, and you know,
Sid Barrett was a mad genius himself, and it really
his personality came out on that album and it was
it was pretty mind blowing because I had never heard
(02:45):
of him. I just was at a record store and
saw kind of a cool cover and bought it and
went home, and that was that.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
It was great and it was one of those things.
I bet that you put it on and then you said,
I got to listen to that again, and I got
to listen to that again.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
I'll fix the grooves on that one for sure, And
it was just such a you know, nobody had ever
created music like that before. It was probably more psychedelic
than progressive, but at the time it was very advanced.
And Side Too had a cut called Interstellar Overdrive, which
was I think eighteen or twenty minutes long, So I
(03:21):
think that was the first really long song I got into.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
And when you were first getting into programming radio stations,
did progressive rock fit into that immediately or did it
take some time? Oh?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
No, I think early on ELP and yes, and to
a certain degree Jethrotel and some other bands. We played
Court of the Crimson King and so, No, it was
definitely a component. Some of it was again just too long.
I mean we'd play it maybe at night or overnights,
but the more melodic stuff was great, no problem, and
(04:01):
we integrated it easily into the mix.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
What role did album artwork and packaging play in the
progressive rock experience?
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Oh, it was part of the completeness of a great
progressive rock album. And not only had the music going,
but it had that visual that really captured the particularly
Roger Dean who did all the Yes covers, and also
Hypnosis which did Pink Floyd and a lot of other bands.
(04:34):
It was just it was an art piece in its
own and again it reflected the album. It was an
extension of what you heard in the grooves, and so
I think it was. It had a lot of impact.
And again some of those artists, the Roger Dean's and
Hypnosis is really were as adventurous in their art as
the artists were in their music.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
I remember, I think you came up with this branded
feature for radio stations. I'm sure you did, and it
yields this question. Remember for headphones only?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Of course?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, I love that. So do you remember the first
moment you got a headphones?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yes, it was a pair of those costs. I forgot
the name of them, but everybody cool had one. They
had the liquid pads and the first album was Sergeant Pepper.
I remember I got that album and listened to it
(05:38):
on the home stereo and it was like, Wow, I
wonder what it sounds like in headphones. So I went
to E. J. Corvette's got some headphones and that really
was an eye opening experience, ear opening experience.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
That made all the difference. Didn't hit the headphones?
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Oh god. Yeah, I still listen almost exclusively in headphones,
just because you hear the nuances and headphones today you
know the quality is great and you just hear all
the subtleties. So well, I love headphones.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
So before we get to the list, are there any
bands or albums that in your mind nearly made the
cut but they just missed the top ten?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Oh god, that's a good question. I would say there
are a lot of albums by Well, yeah, there was
one very obscure one. It was a Chicago band called
Aorta and it was on Columbia Records, and it's very obscure,
but it was great and I still listened to it
today and that would have made my list, but when
(06:45):
I looked at the top ten, it wasn't quite there.
But that was one of them that pretty obscure but
really interesting and eye opening.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Okay, one last thing we have to disclose is I know, oh, yes,
we'll be on this list, and I know your affection
and mine for Yes runs very deep. But your connection
with Yes even includes you getting producing credit at one point?
(07:16):
Am I correct on that?
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yeah, me and Chris Squire worked on the Drama album
together under a company called Onward, and we didn't make
a big deal of it because of my involvement in radio.
But yeah, I was pretty deeply involved in that one.
And it was unfortunate because John Anderson and Rick Makhen
were around for that album. But it's a good album.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Otherwise, I think it's a great album. Yeah, all right,
without further ado. And what I love about this it's
going to spark questions and controversy and good hearted arguments,
and that's why we're here doing this. So let's start
with number ten on your list, Lee Abrams, of the
top ten progressive rock albums of all time. Wish I
(08:00):
had the drum roll. Maybe we'll do that in post
that production.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Okay, Number ten, Dark Side of the Moon. We were
talking about album covers. I think the music on that
record sounds just like the cover, very kind of dark
and cinematic and conceptual, you know, great record obviously survived
(08:26):
the test of time. I think it's still on the
Billboard chart and maybe not, but you know, it's It
was a groundbreaking record for progressive rock because it opened
the door to so many listeners say hey, this is
kind of cool, and they would try other bands of
that genre. So it was a monumental album. I mean,
that's number ten.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Do you think the Wizard of Oz thing was just
an accident that people who synced them up together and you.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Were I mean, so as you know, if you play
a Beatles background backwards, it turned me on dead Man.
You know, No, I don't believe any of that stuff.
It's clever and interesting, but no, I don't think it
was planned. I think they were too busy to do that.
And I actually asked Alan Parsons about it once and
he was like, he just rolled his eyes. Right.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
So there's number ten, Kink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon,
number nine.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
At number nine, checking in its Court of the Crimson
King by King Crimson. You know, speaking of Yes, there
is a band that Yes saw very early on play
at the UFO Club. It's from club in London and
got with the guys after the show and said, boys
we got to practice more because they were so good
(09:47):
and ahead of their time, and that had a lot
of the equalities of great progressive rock records. It was very,
very clever, brilliant playing, brilliant production, interesting arrangement, and just
an amazing breakthrough album. Again turned a lot of people
onto other bands just with this new sound.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I love that one. And do you think they were
foreshadowing the future with the song twenty first century Schizoid Man.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah? Probably, Yeah, they were ahead of their tie.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, all right, King Crimson in at number nine and
now let's roll the number eight.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Number eight is a We're a little little obscure, but
really good. And that is Friends of Mister Cairo by
John and Van gellis another kind of yes off feude
and what's great about that The title track is just
a cinematic masterpiece. Talk about headphones. If there was ever
a song designed for headphones, it was Friends of Mister
(10:49):
Cairo the song and also had I think it had
State of Independence on it, which became a hit for
Donna Summer. That's an interesting story. Quincy Jones called and said,
what I need a song for Donna Summer? What do
you know? What do you have, and so I sent
him an ascetate of friends of State of Independence and
(11:12):
he said, that's it, and he went with it. It's great,
So progressive rock touches disco in that case. But it
was a great underappreciated album. I think PolyGram didn't really
do a very good job promoting it here because it
was pretty big overseas, and Vangelis added a whole new
dimension to it. And he was actually auditioned Van Gelis
(11:36):
to replace Rick Wakeman, yes back in the mid seventies.
And the problem was he overtook the band. I mean,
he was the center. He just had such command that
the rest of them just sent around with the armsfold
and wondering when he's going to quit. And he also
couldn't play the same thing twice.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Oh is that right?
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah, so that'd be hard to tour with. But a
brilliant guy and paired with John, it just it just worked.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
That's a good one. That's that's one out of out
of left field for sure, Yeah, but a good one.
It'll spark it'll spark some memories for people, for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
And if they had never heard of it, should pick
it up or download it. It's really good.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
All right, let's move up the ladder.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Number seven is well, we talked about it Piper at
the Gates of Dawn. Pink Floyd again, very original, very eclectic.
It was the album that really showed us what Sid
Barrett was capable of. Unfortunately said of course didn't stick
around very long because of some acid problems. But what
(12:45):
a what a great again when it came out, it
was so fresh, so different, and I unfortunately know a
lot of Pink Floyd fans have never heard it. So
I would encourage people who are fans not to expect
Dark Side of the Wind of the Wall, but for
a really almost amusing, eccentric record with great songs, that
would be the one.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
What's up on number six?
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Number six and a countdown is the Moody Blues Days
of Future Past, I think the first concept album and
you know Knights and White Satin. A little burned out
on that one, but when it came out that Tuesday afternoon,
the whole concept of it was great with the orchestra
and it just worked. And it was a tough one
because I love the Moody Blues and went through about
(13:33):
all of the mainly their first seven and the couple
in the eighties and it was hard to pick one,
but I had to go with this one because it
was so revolutionary at the time and I was a
staying power.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I'm so glad you bring up the Moody Blues because
I think in this you know, current state, even the
current state really of classic rock, they're sort of, you know,
somewhat forgotten, and they should couldn't be. They were such an
integral part of the landscape.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Oh I know, yeah, I know they've kind of fallen
through the cracks, but my god, they still well had
broken up, but when they were still together a couple
of years ago, they still packed in the arenas. They
have an audience. But yeah, I'm surprised radio hasn't embraced
him more.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
They shouldn't be forgotten. The Moody Blues in at number six. Yes,
and now we're heading into the territory that I think
is going to really start some of the sparring. What's
up on number five?
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Okay, this is controversial because technically it's not progressive rock,
but I think it's very progressive. And that's magical Mystery
Tour by the Beatles. I mean, they had melotrons just
listening to I Am the Walrus in Headphones. That was
such an adventurous record and maybe overshadowed by the White
(14:53):
Album and Abbey Road and Sergeant Pepper, but from a
standpoint of very progressive, very interesting, I think that was
the one again I Am the waal Res Blue Jayway.
Some of the songs again once again in Headphones are
just like brilliant. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
All right, Well I'm buying your your argument. I'm putting
it in there so you have no argument for me
on that one. Number four, okay, coming in at number four.
Number four.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Nursery Crimes by Genesis. This was another one that was
very similar to the Moody Blues, and it was hard
to pick. They had so many great albums. I like
that one for I love Steve Hackett. It's playing on
that is great. And there was a song Fountain of
Salamisis which just blew my mind then and still does.
That took that album into the top ten. But again, Genesis,
(15:51):
I could have picked seven eight other ones for sure,
but it was a great record.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I mean, Genesis is. The legacy of Genesis is remarkable
when you think about, you know, the incarnations of the band, right.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Oh, yeah, absolutely, And now they've seamlessly went from the
long extended pieces into the more pop stuff, but never
really lose their lost their adventurous edge. I mean, even
though the Phil Collins oriented stuff in the eighties was,
you know, it's pretty adventurous, pretty pretty progressive. So that
(16:27):
was a hard one, but I went with the nursery crimes.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Good Number three is ELP's Trilogy. I noticed a lot
of bands it takes them their third album to really
get in the groove, and I think this one really
got the ELP sound down. Emerson's playing is remarkable, particularly
(16:51):
on the song Trilogy. I mean the piano intro is
just like with no no metronome or drummer. He just
flows beautifully. And some great great songs on it too.
I think very melodic of an album. You know what
it did it for me? It balanced musical precision, musical
(17:17):
excellence with great melodies. All the songs had great melodies,
and you know, melody is such a key to progressive rock.
What I find what makes progressive great is the songs
are cinematic, where you close your eyes and a movie
unfolds in front of you. They're clever, Yes, they're particularly clever.
It's just the endings of yours into this grace or
(17:38):
heart of the sunrise. I mean, it's it just blows
people away, that degree of cleverness, brilliant playing, brilliant production.
Trilogy had Eddie Offferd who did all the yes records
too in the ELP and just got that sound, a
very wide screen sound. And what kills progressive rock I
(18:03):
think are endless doodling at the expense of melody, And
I credit ELP for as they never went overboard in
the doodling. They sure could have, but they always maintained uh,
you know, a melodic structure and you could actually hum
their songs even though they were very advanced instrumentally.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
And since drummers are such an important backbone of progressive rock,
obviously the great Carl Palmer, who I think is really
not as appreciated as he should be as well.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
No he's not. Yeah, he's a great drummer. He's still around,
you know, touring, and he's really good. Some insiders said
he couldn't keep time, but I never noticed that he
sounded fright in time to me. Yep, but I didn't
play with them.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Yeah, okay, Number two.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Okay, we're in the top two. Now Close to the
Edge by Yes, Just Magne, some majestic, soaring album. The
song close to the Edge is a journey and I'll
never forget the first time I listened to it, what
are they doing? But by about the tenth listeners, Oh,
(19:13):
I get it. It's just it's really amazing that it's
amazing how they put it together and how they actually
perform it because there's so many sections and so many
links between the sections, and so many different things happening.
But at the end of the day, you know it's
a it's a journey and you're very satisfied by it.
And the other two tracks Iberian Katrue was a real smoker,
(19:37):
and You and I was just pastoral gorgeous. And what's
great about those records They sounded as good live as
they did on the album, so they had but the
fact that they could reproduce those live always put me away.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I love that one. That's a that's a great one.
They're all great. So here we We're.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Up Here we are Yes the number one album. Okay,
this one changed my life. It is the Yes album
by Yes. When I first heard it, I was at
home late at night Sunday night. Wanted to hear some music,
and all the FM stations were doing public affairs or something,
(20:21):
so I turned over to this AM station, the middle
of the road AM station WGBS that had a underground
DJ on at night for some reason, China Vallas was
his name. So anyway, I tuned on WGBS, knowing maybe
they're playing some music, and I caught the first bar.
What I realized now I was like the first couple
(20:42):
of bars of Starship Trooper, and I'd never heard anything
like that. I got chills. It was everything. It was cinematic,
brilliant playing, brilliant production, wide screen, amazing melodies. It was
just mind blowing. So about eleven o'clock at night, I
was working on WNYQ. We're setting up a new VM
(21:06):
station nineteen seventy one, and I remember seeing the album
going through all the records we had, and I went
down there at eleven thirty midnight, got the album and
never looked back. I still listened to it almost every day.
It's just magic. And talk about another Headphones record, I mean,
(21:27):
but it had all the characteristics. It was just it
was really a stunningly beautiful album. Colorful, cinematic, just gorgeous
production and those melodies, oh my god, they're just great.
And the playing was Steve Howe and Chris Squire in
particular were just amazing. And Bill Bruford on drums. What
(21:51):
I loved about him was his subtlety. He was more
of a jazz player. And if you listen to a
song like Starship Prooper listened to the drum, it's so
and airy, but it just works, and that might be
my favorite YES lineup. In fact, I thought Tony Kay
was brilliant with the ham and organ. I mean on
(22:12):
YouTube you can hear the songs like yours is no
disgrace isolated, just organ. It's not dutally or playing fast
or anything. It's just powerful. Yeah, he got that B
three sound and it just roared and just everything worked
on that record. It was so amazing.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
That's great, Lee. There's no one that I would rather
be speaking with as far as a countdown of the
top ten progressive rock albums of all time than you
appreciate that. I absolutely love your background on it, and
love everything that you talk about here and love you
(22:52):
for all your work, and thanks for sharing these thoughts
on on the Top ten Progressive rock albums of all time.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
My Pleasure and when you want to do number eleven
through twenty let me know that sounds good. Thank you
all right, great.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
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