Top 5 Prog Rock Albums

[dinosaur]

I think there is truth to the idea of favorites coming out of a particular time in one's life...couldn't stop playing the following when I was young (of course I couldn't afford a wide variety at the time).

1. Relayer - Yes (played this over and over for years)
2. Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield (played this, and then the Allman Brothers, and then Jimi Hendryx, then repeated for a whole summer)
3. Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull (what can I say?)
4. Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Alan Parsons (truly classical)
5. Countdown to Ecstasy - Steely Dan (OK, perhaps not prog, but progressive...)

We tend to identify with the music and its messages, its (counter) culture--so it becomes 'favorite'. I lost track of good music in the wasteland they called radio in the ensuing two decades --remember disco? Plus, I was way too busy working for a living...
Then in the nineties I was happy to discover prog alive and kicking by both 'seasoned' and new! Such as:
1. Subterranea - IQ
2. Hubris - Anglagard
3. Second Life Syndrome - Riverside
4. Alone - Clepsydra
5. Thrak - King Crimson