Progtopi‪a‬ Mark Ashby

It's the end of a long and trying year, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't plenty of great music to be found in 2020. You'll hear Mark's picks for the top five albums of this year, plus five honorable mentions, all of which are worth your time.

Bands/artists featured (in alphabetical order):
Circuline
Simon Collins
The Cyberiam
Days Between Stations
Fish
Glass Hammer
Haken
Mark Kelly's Marathon
Silent Skies
Rick Wakeman

For the second part of our Halloween 2020 special, we delve into the heavier side of progressive tracks with spooky titles and themes. Listen to songs from the Fierce and the Dead, Within Temptation, Odd Logic, Braindance, the Murder of My Sweet, Voyager, To-Mera, Venturia, Hemina, and the Cyberiam. To hear interviews and features with many of these bands, go to the Archival Episodes tab at www.progtopia.com. If this episode is too scary for you, check out Part 1 for some "lighter" fare!

In the first part of our Halloween 2020 special, we highlight some of the (dare we say?) lighter progressive songs with creepy-sounding titles or themes. Hear tracks from Francis Dunnery, the Alan Parsons Project, iamthemorning, the Flower Kings, Edison's Children, Anathema, Atomic Rooster, Djam Karet, Darryl Way, In Continuum, Adam Rabin, and Tom Slatter. Many of these artists have been featured in past Progtopia episodes, so go to www.progtopia.com to hear from them. Check out Part 2 for some heavier tunes!

With Genesis founder Mike Rutherford's recent 70th birthday, we thought we'd have a listen to five tracks from his non-Genesis output. That includes solo albums and, of course, his side band Mike + the Mechanics. Some of it's prog, some of it's not, but you can't deny he can write the kind of music many people enjoy listening to. Here's to you, Mr. Rutherford!

To hear previous archival episodes, go to www.progtopia.com, and follow the show on Facebook (www.facebook.com/progtopia).

The late Eric Woolfson spent the 70s and 80s as the silent but equal partner of Alan Parsons in the rock band named after the producer. Having penned hits like "Games People Play" and "Time," and even singing several of them himself, Woolfson eventually moved on from rock radio to writing scores for musical theatre. His subjects included historical figures like Sigmund Freud, Antoni Gaudi, and of course Edgar Allan Poe. With five such productions out there, it only follows that instead of spotlighting well-known Alan Parsons Project tracks, we take a look at one song from each of those musicals. Among those, you'll hear some updated takes on APP songs from years past, and Woolfson himself singing his own words once more.

Find Woolfson and APP merchandise and music at www.ericwoolfsonmusic.com.

To hear previous archival episodes, go to www.progtopia.com, and follow the show on Facebook (www.facebook.com/progtopia).

Hailing from Perth, Western Australia, Voyager have spent the better part of two decades creating their signature blend of prog metal with hooks aplenty in every instrument and some of the slickest production around. Alex Canion, Ash Doodkorte, Simone Dow, Danny Estrin, and Scott Kay have been the lineup for the past few albums, the most recent of which -- Colours in the Sun -- was released in 2019. And to make it even harder to choose which five songs from their seven-album discography make the cut, we placed the further restriction that none of the Five here can have an official MTV-style video. That leaves out a lot of great tracks, but the good news is there are plenty more standouts to choose from. Did we get it right? Tell us what you think!

Find the band at https://www.voyagerau.com/ and their Bandcamp page: https://voyager.bandcamp.com/

To hear previous archival episodes, go to www.progtopia.com, and follow the show on Facebook (www.facebook.com/progtopia).