The sampler itself is actually not bad at all. It has three CDs full of superb music. One of the strong points of this sampler is that it covers the majority of the different progressive rock styles.
From space rock, via art rock to symphonic prog. This is as close to an essential prog rock taster for newbeginners a sampler can get. I am pretty sure it is the best prog rock sampler on the market today.
The guys who created this compilation feel they are the owners of the ultimate taste by naming this mixture "The Best Prog Rock Album Ever" (What a pompous name!!!). There's no use to comment the songs because 90% are masterpieces.
There's no King Crimson, no Gong, no Supertramp, no Eloy, no Jane, ect. But you can't squeeze every major prog band into a 35-track compilation.
Notable omissions include Pink Floyd (there's a bunch of EMI material on here, but Floyd may have just been too expensive to license), King Crimson (not terribly surprising, given Fripp's territoriality), Gong (the rights to Gong's music evidently being in some confusion at the time, with material showing up, licitly or not, on many different labels), Renaissance, The Nice, Strawbs...
But getting upset about that is special pleading on behalf of one's favored groups- they had limited space and budget to work with, and made the most of it.
Various – The Best Prog Rock Album In The World …Ever!
Label: Virgin – VTDCD 533, EMI – VTDCD 533, Virgin – 7243 584895 2 1, EMI – 7243 584895 2 1
Series: The Best...Album In The World...Ever!
Format: 3 x CD, Compilation
Country: UK
Released: 2003
Genre: Electronic, Jazz, Rock, Blues
Style: Hard Rock, Classic Rock, Prog Rock
CD1.
01. Van Der Graaf Generator–Theme 1 3:01
Producer – John Anthony
Written-By – George Martin
02. Genesis–Dancing With The Moonlit Knight 8:07
Producer – Genesis, John Burns
Written-By – Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks
03. Yes–Roundabout 8:34
Producer – Eddie Offord, Yes
Written-By –Jon Anderson, Steve Howe
04. Manfred Mann's Earth Band–Joybringer 3:25
Written-By – Slade, Holst, Mann, Rogers
05. Curved Air–Back Street Luv 3:39
Producer – Colin Caldwell, Curved Air
Written-By – Way, Eyre, Linwood
06. Hawkwind–Silver Machine 4:40
Written-By – Dave Brock, Robert Calvert
07. Jethro Tull–Locomotive Breath 4:27
Producer – Ian Anderson, Terry Ellis
Written-By – Ian Anderson
08. Focus–Hocus Pocus 6:41
Written-By – J. Akkerman, T. Van Leer
09. Emerson, Lake & Palmer– Hoedown 3:46
Arranged By – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Written-By – Copeland
10. Atomic Rooster–Tomorrow Night 3:59
Written-By – Crane
11. Deep Purple–Child In Time 10:20
Producer – Deep Purple
Written-By – Ian Gillan, Ian Paice, Jon Lord, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover
12. Colosseum–Valentyne Suite 16:53
Written-By – Greenslade, Heckstall-Smith, Hiseman
Flac Size: 461 MB
CD 2.
01. Peter Gabriel – Here Comes The Flood 5:53
Written By, Producer – Peter Gabriel
02. Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells (Part 1) 4:59
Producer – Mike Oldfield, Simon Heyworth, Tom Newman
Written By – Mike Oldfield
03. Caravan – Winter Wine 7:39
Producer – David Hitchcock
Written-By – David Sinclair, Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlan
04. Kevin Ayers & The Whole World – May I? 4:02
Written-By – Kevin Ayers
05. Rare Bird – Sympathy 2:44
Producer – Danny Thompson, John Anthony
Written-By – Rare Bird
06. Procol Harum – A Salty Dog 4:41
Written-By – Gary Brooker, Keith Reid
07. Barclay James Harvest – Mocking Bird 6:38
Producer – Norman Smith
Written-By – John Lees, Les Holroyd, Melvyn Pritchard, Stuart Wolstenholme
08. Anthony Phillips With Mike Rutherford & Phil Collins – Which Way The Wind Blows 5:53
Instruments – Mike Rutherford
Producer – Anthony Phillips, Michael Rutherford, Simon Heyworth
Vocals – Phil Collins
Written-By – Anthony Phillips
09. Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Lucky Man 4:38
Written-By – Lake
10. Roxy Music – In Every Dream Home A Heartache 5:29
Producer – Chris Thomas, Roxy Music
Written-By – Bryan Ferry
11. Electric Light Orchestra – 10538 Overture 5:29
Written-By – Jeff Lynne
12. Hatfield And The North – Mumps 20:25
Written-By – D. Stewart
Flac Size: 454 MB
CD 3.
01.Frank Zappa – Peaches En Regalia 3:40
Written-By – Frank Zappa
02.Camel – Rhayader [From 'The Snow Goose'] 3:06
Arranged By – David Bedford
Producer – David Hitchcock
Written-By – Andrew Latimer, Peter Bardens
03.Gentle Giant – Pantagruel's Nativity 6:53
Producer – Tony Visconti
Written-By – Derek Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Phil Shulman, Ray Shulman
04.Egg – Germ Patrol 8:33
Written-By, Producer – Egg
05.Matching Mole – O Caroline 5:08
Written-By – Sinclair, Wyatt
06.Greenslade – Bedside Manners Are Extra 6:25
Producer – Andrew McCulloch, Dave Greenslade, Dave Lawson, Tony Reeves
Written-By – D. Greenslade, D. Lawson
07. Steve Hillage – Meditation Of The Snake 3:17
Producer – Simon Heyworth, Steve Hillage
Written-By – Steve Hillage
08.Steve Hackett – Spectral Mornings 6:32
Producer – John Acock, Steve Hackett
Written-By – Steve Hackett
09.Be Bop Deluxe – Ships In The Night 3:57
Producer – Bill Nelson, John Leckie
Written-By – Bill Nelson
10.Man – Keep On Crinting 8:17
Written-By – John, Jones, Ryan, Williams
11.Van Der Graaf Generator – A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers 23:04
Producer – John Anthony
Written-By – David Jackson, Guy Evans, Hugh Banton, Peter Hammill
Many names are unfortunately missing ... So I decided to enrich the collection by adding some very important Progressive Rock bands, creating 5 more samplers trying to fill some gaps.
You can find bands as: King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Marillion, Strawbs, Porcupine Tree, The Alan Parsons Project, Eloy and many more. I hope to satisfy you.
I would like to introduce the younger visitos of this blog in a largest idea of prog Rock. So, you can find more than about 60 names in these new samplers.
You Can find, all the bands in red colour, in Urban Aspirines and you can download them. For the other bands, just wait for a future post.
Thank you. KOSTAS
PROG ROCK BY URBAN ASPIRINES 1.
01 - Aphrodite's Child - The Four Horsemen
02 - Vangelis - We Were All Uprooted
03 - Pink Floyd - A Pillow of Winds
04 - Porcupine Tree - Radioactive Toy
05 - King Crimson - The Court of the Crimson King (including 'The Return of the Fire Witch' and 'The Dance Of The Puppets'
06 - Verbal Delirium - So Close & Yet so far Away
07 - Archive - I Will Fade
08 - Eloy - Future City
09 - Nektar - Nelly the Elephant
10 - Jane - Earth (Angel)
11 - Goblin - Profondo Rosso
12 - Carmen - Bulerias- a) Cante (Song), b) Baile (Dance), c) Reprise
13 - Gravy Train - Dedication To Sid
Flac Size: 710 MB
PROG ROCK BY URBAN ASPIRINES 2.
14 - Pavlov's Dog - Song Dance
15 - Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin
16 - Tai Phong - Games
17 - Gong - A Sprinkling of Clouds
18 - Ciccada - Eniania (Keepers of the Midnight Harvest)
19 - Strawbs - Hero and Heroine
20 - Rick Wakeman - Catherine Of Aragon
21 - The Alan Parsons Project - The Tell-Tale Heart
22 - The Dog That Bit People - Cover Me In Roses
23 - P.F.M - E' Festa
24 - Will-O-The Wisp - Internal Journey
25 - String Driven Thing - Travelling
26 - Hawkwind - Hassan I Sahba
Flac Size: 533 MB
PROG ROCK BY URBAN ASPIRINES 3.
27 - Genesis - The Carpet Crawlers
28 - Klaatu - Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft
29 - Locomotive - Nobody Asked You To Come
30 - Ghosts Of Jupiter - The Great Bright Horses
31 - Renaissance - Ocean Gypsy
32a - Aragorn - Land Of Mordor
32b - Aragorn - Trees And Grass
32c - Aragorn - East Of Greyhaven
32d - Aragorn - A History Book
33 - Khan - Space Shanty
34 - Quatermass - Post War Saturday Echo
35 - Utopia - Communion With The Sun
36 - Barclay James Harvest - Poor Man's Moody Blues
37 - Spooky Tooth - Here I Lived So Well
38 - Comus - Diana
39 - Methexis - Chapter 1 - The Origin Of Blame
Flac Size: 691 MB
PROG ROCK BY URBAN ASPIRINES 4.
40 - The Claypool Lennon Delirium - Blood And Rockets
41 - IQ - Awake And Nervous
42 - Marillion - Script For A Jester's Tear
43 - Gryphon - The Ploughboy's Dream
44 - The Nice - Country Pie Brandenburg Concerto No.6
45 - Supertramp - Lady
46 - Rush - Making Memories
47 - Krokodil - Light Of Day
48 - Nine Stones Cold - Threads
49 - Wobbler - This Past Presence
50 - Cockney Rebel - Ritz
51 - Kansas - Lamplight Symphony (Album Version)
52 - Kraan - Jack Steam
Flac Size: 643 MB
PROG ROCK BY URBAN ASPIRINES 5.
53 - Soft Machine - Why Are We Sleeping
54 - Captain Beefheart - Moonlight On Vermont
55 - The Strawbs - Ghosts
56 - Magna Carta - I Am No More
57 - Cressida - Depression
58 - Robert Wyatt - Little Red Robin Hood Hit The Road
59 - Mike Rutherford - At The End Of The Day
60 - Peter Hammill - Don't Tell Me
61 - The Flower Kings - My Cosmic Lover
62 - The Mars Volta - Eriatarka
63 - Triumvirat - Timothy
64 - Queen - I'm In Love With My car
65 - UK - In The Dead Of Night - By The Light Of Day
66 - Amon Duul - Pull Down Your Mask (Syntelman's March Of The Roaring Seventies)
67 - Beardfish - Dark Poet
Many pictures are Roger Dean paintings.
Wow! What a great work you did Mister!!! Thank you very much. Frank & Carla. Italian Prog Rock LOVERS.
ReplyDeleteAmazing. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work Kostas. Thanks
ReplyDeleteA bit of a delayed reaction because i've only just come home from Erwin. I thought about whether i should respond to the entry at all.
ReplyDeleteBut i still want to give my point view and i hope you don't mind speaking openly.
I don't like best of like that at all. It's different enough to choose, say, the 10 best prog. Not to mention individual tracks. Who decides that - the record company ? When a magazine select the best lps, my favorite are found among distant ones. Most of the time they don't even appear. Or another example at Cherry Red Records the series the British Sounds of 72 etc...has been running for a long time...all well known bands. They want to make cheap money with them.
I will talk only about me and not about the music labels. I created the 5 collections only for me and my visitors. I don't make cheap money with them and you know it very well. I'm not like the music labels. I only put some bands that I love. If someone likes it, Okay. If not, I don't really care.
DeleteIf you do it for yourself there is nothing wrong. I talked about labels and the first 3 entries like that. Everyone can hold it however they want. Here too i only spoke " privately".
DeleteTitles as: The best prog rock album in the world...ever - The best punk collection - The best garage songs - etc, are completely shit. I only created 5 beautiful samples with beloved bands. If someone doesn't like it, I really don't give a shit.
DeleteYour work in this blog is excellent. Don't listen to noone and keep on going. Hai creato uno dei migliori blogs. Carlo, il tuo vecchio amico. (Ferrara.)
DeleteDear Kostas, I like your 5 beautiful samples very much. Basically, I have all the tracks, but I downloaded it just because of the way it was composed (the choice and sequence of tracks). Thank you!!!!!! Enrico
DeleteBest of's are always subjective and tricky, especially if you're brave enough to tackle Prog. You certainly can't include all of Thick as a Brick, and tracks like Grendel or Close to the Edge will limit space for other entries.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, your "5 CD" compilation is an excellent primer. Seeing Carmen, IQ, Ghosts of Jupiter, amongst others included is inspired.
Thank you Lyon. I could make 5 more compilations but I have not enough time.
DeleteTaste of course subjective. Only the best of....try to claim objective values. Out of comfort, laziness, lack of refkection, fear of not thinking and being like everyone else often follow these values. People also always equate success with value. The reverse is more likely to be the case.
DeleteIncidentally, philosophy is often seen as the destroyer and breaker of old " values". But he is the one who will always appear as the judge and new measure of value of things.
Had to drop by and comment as there seems to have been some negativity flying about! This is a great effort Kostas, whilst not my style of music as such and yet it is really well done ( as always). One additional point the artist seemingly mostly featured in the covers is one Roger Dean who I had come to my shop and do a signing and turned out to be one of the very nicest people/artists I ever had visit (amongst Gilbert & George, David Mach, to phortgraphers Eve Arnold, Robert Doisneau, Elliott Erwitt etc) with one of the ‘weirdest’ followings of freaks ever. Incredibly kind and tolerant of his fans he was just brilliant. Lovely man! {Just FYI)
ReplyDeleteWhen this you see, remember me.
DeleteAnd bear me on your mind.
Let all the world say what they may
Speak of me as you find.
(BRIAN JONES)
"I'm in love with my car"? Seems like a poor choice to show Queen's proggier side. Why not seven seas of rye or prophet's song or ogre battle? even '39 with it's sci-fi theme might've been a better choice.
ReplyDeleteI choosed this song because it was the favourite song of a friend of mine. He died many years before, cause of drugs and this song means too much for me 😞
DeleteI'd like to thank you for these beautiful 5 collections and for your wonderfull work in this blog.
ReplyDeleteTo Max: I didn't publish your comment, because is full of negativity. I know that the title of the 3 CD collection is very silly, but my 5 samples are s great trip to Prog Rock, designed with amazing paints of Roger Dean, I spent many hours for this work, every track is a little masterpiece and I,'m very proud for this.
ReplyDelete... So from now on, all the comments full of negativity will be denied. I don't have to apologize for nothing to no-one,
You can go to many other blogs. You are not welcome here., Enough is enough.
I don't know what Max wrote.
ReplyDeleteI think absolutely negative is also welcome.
Negative and offensive in the same time have no place here. I'm very pissed off. Nobody can tell me how to do my work. If he doesn't like it, he can get the fuck out of Urban Aspirines. Enough is enough.
DeleteI think you can write anything as long as there are no personal insults.
DeleteYour blog is an incredible opportunity for music lovers. Keep it up. And thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteDante wrote: non ti curar di lor... 😉
Enrico
Thank you very much Enrico.
DeleteNeither Dante nor anyone else needs to non ti curar di loro. I agree.
ReplyDeleteBy the way: if i had lived at the same time as Dante he certainly woudn't have meant me.
ReplyDeleteRather, the saying is addressed to a specific category of people.
You are right. But: "non ti curar di loro" is a popular alteration of Dante's verse "Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa" (Inf. III, 51), used proverbially to mean that one need not worry about the slander or malignity of others, or at any rate the vileness of life.
DeleteEnrico
Hello.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog and a great compilation of progressive rock.
Thank you very much for your work.
Thank you very much for your comment.
DeleteThanks Kostas! This is good for me to help lock in many of these songs that I could never possibly listen to on a regular basis. This is why I do like the compilations (however random play is my preference). In fact that is how I listen to music at home when not recording...I keep 25Gb folders of all my rips then listen on random play! It seems to read my mind and after all the universe is random. As an understudy to your blog, I value your point of view. and have grown to love it! I think because us bloggers get exposed to thee best music in the world, it is tough to come down to reality from that and thus comments get negative very easily as you brush upon their golden charms that support their egos--for some that is all they cling to as age takes over. yes, I had to delete some comments in the past but generally agree with Josef to include the negative as well. The comments I delete generally have nothing to do with the file posted. No better than trolls who cannot form thoughts to join the conversation at hand...they are abundant and sad to see. They say all my comments are ''''word salad" but funny how that sick collective mind always sounds the same and use the same phrases like they were taught by illuminati to be a monkey wrench to our recapture of old knowledge. We are a team, you, Josef and I...always remember that as some day I may visit you both!
ReplyDeleteHello my friend. I'm not bothered of the negative comments. I'm bothered of the negativity in some of them. It's completely different. I'm bothered of the offensive words about my work in the blog and I can't stand it. I try to do my best, but some people don't understand it and become very offensive. These comments are not welcome in the blog anymore. Enough is Enough. I will be very happy to see you in Greece.
DeleteCheck this out, I downloaded it yesterday from I don't know where but could be relevant: https://bestfile.io/YcGcL6j8AUnGepJ/file
DeleteI will do it.
DeleteThe URBAN ASPIRINES i have repeatedly emphazid that is BY FAR THE BEST BLOG !!
ReplyDeleteYou can take almost 100% from the entries and i am someone who is not easy to please.
Rarely a blog where i have discovered so much unknown. Thanks Kostas. Anyone who attack the blog is simply an ideot who has no idea. You can sometimes disagree with an entry, but it doesn't relate to the music, other circumstances. The music from this entry is certainly very good, but i don't like that they put together tracks from lps that are more or less known to everyone. At most he is a beginner. Also from such different bands.
I'd rather listen to the band's lp. And anyone who likes prog basically doesn't need the sampler, they have the lps. If you don't have it, it's your own fault or you're not really interested.
One of the last offensive attacks I had, was about The Plasmatics, because I posted a band who had a shemale singer and not a real woman. It's obvious that I didn't post the comment.
DeleteThere is a lot of madness in the world.
DeleteThat never end. Unfortunately you have to live with that shit. Ignore and avoid such people.
Thanks very much for this great collection. Everything on your blog is done very nicely and your efforts show.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Delete