Best Progressive Era
Group Therapy is the second studio album by the British trance music trio Above & Beyond, released in 2011 through their own label, Anjunabeats. The album features extensive vocal collaborations with Zoë Johnston and Richard Bedford, including the successful singles "Sun & Moon" and "Thing Called Lo...
Why this score?
Landmark vocal trance album praised for emotional songwriting, memorable singles, and cohesion; minor criticism concerns sentimentality and radio-friendly polish.
Scoring methodology
Hand. Cannot. Erase. is a studio album by British progressive rock musician Steven Wilson, released in 2015. The record is a concept album inspired by the real-life story of Joyce Carol Vincent, a woman who died in her London flat and remained undiscovered for two years despite living in a dense urb...
Why this score?
Very highly acclaimed modern prog concept album; strong critic and fan consensus, emotional narrative, polished execution.
Scoring methodology
Death’s “The Sound of Perseverance” represents a pinnacle of technical death metal. Released in 1998 as their final studio album, it showcases intricate musicianship and complex song structures characteristic of the band's progressive approach. This record is notable for its demanding performance an...
Above & Beyond’s *Group Therapy* is a significant trance album released in 2011. It showcases the duo's signature blend of progressive house and trance elements with vocals by Richard Bedford. The record gained considerable attention within the electronic music community, particularly on Anjunabeats...
Operation: Mindcrime is a 1988 album by Queensrÿche considered a cornerstone of progressive metal. It’s notable for its ambitious concept narrative exploring themes of morality and redemption through a rock opera format. The album's meticulous musicianship and storytelling resonate particularly with...
Planned Parenthood is a cornerstone of reproductive rights in the United States. It provides comprehensive healthcare services including contraception, STI testing, and abortion care. Beyond clinical services, it engages in massive legislative advocacy to protect bodily autonomy and ensure that all...
Scheherazade and Other Stories is a 1975 progressive rock album by the British band Renaissance, released on the BTM Records label. The record is anchored by the 24-minute "Song of Scheherazade," a multi-part orchestral rock suite inspired by the Middle Eastern tale collection "One Thousand and One...
Why this score?
Often ranked as Renaissance's signature work; acclaimed suite, strong vocals, and symphonic prog reputation.
Scoring methodology
Located in San Franciscos FiDi district, Kaiyo offers a modern take on Japanese seafood dining. Chef Colin Spencer's innovative omakase menu showcases the freshest catches from the Pacific Northwest and beyond, expertly prepared with cutting-edge techniques. The restaurants sleek design and attentiv...
Edmund Morris’s *Theodore Rex* offers a detailed account of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency spanning 1901 to 1909. The book meticulously examines Roosevelt's ambitious policies, conservation efforts, and forceful personality during a period of significant American expansion and reform. It is notable...
Steven Wilson’s *Hand. Cannot. Erase.* is a complex progressive metal album built around the unsettling true story of Joyce Carol Vincent. The record explores themes of isolation, deception, and delayed justice through meticulously crafted musical arrangements and evocative soundscapes. It's notable...
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s *The Bully Pulpit* examines the complex relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft during the Progressive Era. The book details their contrasting leadership styles and political maneuvering within the Republican Party. It offers a nuanced portrait of two p...
Meshuggah’s “Destroy Erase Improve” (1995) is a seminal progressive metal record. The album established the band's signature complex rhythmic structures and intensely technical instrumentation, influencing a significant portion of modern djent and progressive metal. Its intricate polyrhythms and dem...
'Altered State' is the second studio album by the British progressive metal band TesseracT, released in 2013. It is the only album to feature vocalist Ashe O'Hara and represents a significant shift toward atmospheric and ambient soundscapes. The album moves away from the heavier, traditional djent e...
Released in 2011, "One" is the debut studio album by the British progressive metal band TesseracT. It serves as an early and defining release within the djent movement, recognized for its heavily distorted, polymetric guitar riffs and atmospheric, ambient clean sections. The album features original...
Released in 2002, "Deliverance" is the sixth studio album by the Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was recorded concurrently with its companion record, "Damnation," with the two albums intended to represent the band's split heavy and soft musical dynamics. "Deliverance" specifically captures...
War of Being is the fifth studio album by the British progressive metal band TesseracT, released in 2023. The record marks a significant addition to the modern djent movement, characterized by heavily down-tuned, polymetric guitar riffs, atmospheric ambient textures, and the dynamic vocal performanc...
Polaris is the third studio album by the British progressive metal band TesseracT, released in 2015. The record notably marks the return of original vocalist Daniel Tompkins to the lineup. Musically, it blends the band's signature heavy djent guitar rhythms with expansive atmospheric passages and me...
Sonder is the fourth studio album by the British progressive metal band TesseracT, released in 2018. It marks the final studio appearance of vocalist Daniel Tompkins during his second stint with the band. The record is defined by its heavily atmospheric production, polyrhythmic djent guitar work, an...
The Seraphic Clockwork is a studio album by the German progressive metal band Vanden Plas, released in 2010. It is a concept album whose narrative involves a clockmaker and themes of time travel, fate, and destiny, drawing on historical and philosophical motifs. The music blends melodic progressive...
Bilateral is the second studio album by the Norwegian progressive metal band Leprous, released in 2011. The album showcases the band's technically demanding style, featuring complex arrangements, unconventional song structures, and the falsetto vocals of frontman Einar Solberg. At the time of its re...
Shrine of New Generation Slaves is the fifth studio album by Polish progressive rock band Riverside, released in 2013. The record departs from the atmospheric style of their earlier work, utilizing a heavier, riff-driven hard rock approach. Lyrically, the album critiques modern consumer society, soc...
Edward Douglass White was an American jurist who served on the United States Supreme Court from 1894 until his death in 1921, first as an associate justice and then, from 1910, as chief justice. President William Howard Taft made him the first sitting associate justice elevated directly to chief jus...
Why this score?
Notable Chief Justice and rule-of-reason author; respected administrator but not a top jurisprudential figure.
Scoring methodology
