So a strange thing happened when I entered the realm of the 1-hour commute. I found a startling increase in the number of Progressive Rock CDs finding their way into my music collection via my car. Now I, like many others, had always felt that Prog Rock was fine in small doses but the excesses of bands like Yes or ELP just weren’t for me (embracing as I had, some secondhand Punk credentials through Nirvana in the early 90’s, as well as some well dodgy thrift-store shirts).
However, I had always been a huge fan of certain Prog bands and the following albums are now permanent in my car’s CD storage area (just behind the hand-brake). If you want to find some hardcore, yet accessible Prog albums you cannot beat (not even with a rhinestone stick):
- “2112” by Rush (the story of which was stolen for the storyline of the Queen musical “We Will Rock You”)
- “Animals” by Pink Floyd (their last great album before the concepts overtook the content on grim offerings such as “The Wall” and “The Final Cut”) and
- “Thick as a Brick” by Jethro Tull (a single song over two LP sides and replete with writing credits for a fictional teenage boy – very Prog indeed).
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These are Progressive Rock classics in the best of terms, with whole sides dedicated to single songs or concepts, complex song arrangements (beyond the aul 4:4), brilliant musicianship and with musical and lyrical themes running throughout. If, like me, these Progressive characteristics sound tempting to you, there are no better introductions to the world of proper Prog than these Rush, Floyd or Tull albums and they simply must be tried by an adventurous soul with commuting time on their hands such as yourself. Go on, I dare ya 🙂
It is exactly these characteristics that have resulted in more Prog making it into my own limited car storage space. A 1-hour commute allows me to listen in-depth to whole albums, where themes expand and concepts develop in the privacy behind the wheel and I don’t have to explain myself to anyone (or indeed explain it to myself).
I find that “shuffle” on the iPod or Zen becomes disconcerting after a while, I want to be lulled into a nice meditative place (to make the commute seem more like I’m in an independent road movie of some sort). I don’t want to be jarred out of my reverie by disparate parts of a schizophrenic record collection randomly colliding (making me career into a ditch outside of Upperchurch as “God Save the Queen” comes rollicking on after “Albatross“, that was a good day…)
But enough philosophy, God bless the commute for reminding me that whole albums have a point, a much bigger remit than delivering the hits. They represent a more challenging (and satisfying for me anyway) art form and it’s no coincidence that the classic albums above have no hits on them at all (despite those bands having had their share of hits at other times) – better off that way if you ask me. Check them out for something beyond…
Jim's Commute Blog 
