Top of the Heap

Progressive rock or prog rock is a broad genre of rock music mostly developed in the UK from the mid to late 1960s and peaking in the early to mid 1970s. It saw the emergence of psychedelic bands that favored instrumentation and compositional techniques associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Lyrics were more poetic and the music was created more for listening than dancing.

“Fool’s Overture” is a song that was recorded by the English rock band Supertramp. It is featured on their 1977 album Even in the Quietest Moments. It was written and sung by guitarist/keyboardist Roger Hodgson. The song includes excerpts of the famous June 4, 1940 House of Commons speech by Winston Churchill, there are sounds of police cars and the bells of the Big Ben clock tower in London, England and many other creative entries. This has been rated as one of the ten best songs Hodgson has written.

“The Carpet Crawlers” is a song that was written and recorded by the English progressive rock band Genesis. It is featured on their album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The song tells the story of Rael, the lead character, who finds himself in a red carpeted corridor surrounded by kneeling people crawling through a wooden door. Rael runs past everyone and goes through the door. Behind the door is a table with a candlelit feast and behind that a spiral staircase leading up and out of sight.

“Starless” is a composition by English progressive rock band King Crimson. It is featured on their 1974 album Red. The original chords and melody was written by King Crimson bassist John Wetton.

“Inca Roads” is a song that was recorded by the American rock band Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. It is featured on their 1975 album One Size Fits All. The song explores the stereotypes of aliens encountering the Inca civilization. It implies that a UFO landed in the Andes Mountains.

“Heart of the Sunrise” is a progressive rock song that was recorded by the British rock band Yes. It is featured on their 1971 album Fragile. It was written by Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and Bill Bruford. The song became the band’s fifth most-played song and was featured in the 1998 comedy-drama “Buffalo ‘66”.

“Tarkus” is a song that was recorded by Progressive rock band Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. It is featured on their 1971 album of the same name. This album went to number one on the UK Albums chart. For the song Emerson transposed “a fleeting run of one bar” from the Allegro of the Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Prokofiev.

“La Villa Strangiato” is a song that was recorded by the Canadian rock band Rush. It is an instrumental song that was inspired by a dream the band’s lead guitarist Alex Lifeson had. Its title refers to the artwork “the Street Light” or “Il Lampione” in Italian created by the Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla. The painting features a house on a hill, similar to a villa, with a lamp post in the foreground.

“Carry On Wayward Son” is a song recorded by the American rock band Kansas. It is featured on their 1976 album Leftoverture and was written by the band’s guitarist Kerry Livgren. It became the band’s first Top 40 hit and charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song became a classic rock radio staple and the signature song for Kansas.

“Stairway to Heaven” is a song that was recorded by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is featured on their 1971 album Led Zeppelin IV. The song was written by the band’s lead singer Robert Plant and composed by the band’s guitarist Jimmy Page. It has been regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time. It is listed at number 31 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.