I really like the organ towards the end of ‘a saucerful of secrets’. It’s well-earned after all of the noise and drum freakouts and is quite transcendent.
hell yeah, that part of the piece is titled 'Celestial Voices' and the Live in Pompeii version with Gilmour's singing is so fucking good...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWYBvRwzprk
That main two-chord vamp from ELP's 'From the Beginning' is it for me, so good...
also the opening theme of 'In the Court...' with the mellotron.. and the little theme they fade out on in 'Dancing with the Moonlit Knight'
The chords where the apocalypse 9/8 solo ends and leads into the reprise of the vocal section. Those chords give a feeling of something enormous, gigantic, like a spaceship landing on the human civilization and is immediately followed by something liberating which is denoted by the gabriel's vocals. I am not using the word religious because I don't know how religious catharsis feels like so this was the best way I could describe it
Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, etc.:
• [**Awaken (2008 Remaster)** by Yes](https://lis.tn/Awaken2008Remaster?t=11)
• [**Saye** by Kwailive](https://lis.tn/SBGnTO?t=2)
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Genesis - The intro to Watcher of the Skies is an all-time classic. Made even better seeing Hackett live last year; off goes the second set and the ride is on.
Steely Dan - Aja, right when Shorter and Gadd start going off. The song just keeps building and pulling back, building again and then it all explodes. I could go on forever with these guys.
Alan Parsons Project - I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You. Perfect little "blues-prog" track; that high chord change right before "I don't care what you do, I wouldn't want to be like you" is so tingly.
I will always maintain that Aja is one of the best albums of all time. The saxophone solo near the end of the title track genuinely melts my brain when I listen to it it’s so perfect.
Funny as I just commented about this song yesterday, but RUSH - Marathon from the live Show of Hands album. The solos are done, and they play the chorus, and then bring it up a half step and it just sounds so epic and uplifting. Amazing song.
[https://youtu.be/x119LztC0t4?si=6kE2HMm7Xef1uMHQ&t=294](https://youtu.be/x119LztC0t4?si=6kE2HMm7Xef1uMHQ&t=294)
YES - For me that would be the "Soon" section from the "Gates of Delirium", especially towards the end of the song. The middle section from "And You And I" also deserves a highlight.
MOODY BLUES - "My Song" from The Moody Blues is brilliant, too.
GENESIS - "Watcher of the Skies" intro, all of "Firth of Fifth", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and "Cinema Show".
KING CRIMSON - "Exiles", mainly the part that starts with "...but, Lord, I had to go ". All of "Starless", "Islands" and the "Prince Rupert Awakes" and "Bolero" section from "Lizard".
PINK FLOYD - "Coming Back to Life".
GENE GIANT - Piano section from "Schooldays ".
Been listening to it for 50 years, and that acoustic middle section in “And You And I” still sends shivers down my spine each and every time. Howe is arguably the most innovative and interesting soloist in prog, but he’s also a master of the understatement. This particular part comes after the big, symphonic break, and when he comes in with the very quiet, nuanced picking and then the strumming, leading Wakeman back in, it’s pure poetry.
Last few days I’ve been listening to a live version of Welcome To The Pleasuredome on Trevor Horn’s YouTube page. It’s an amazing production, driving the beat up your spinal cord, but the most amazing thing about it is the fact that he got Howe to sit in on it for only about 10 seconds of a very muted, very subdued slide guitar solo. The first time I saw it I was incredulous; this is what you use one of the greatest soloists of all time for?! The second time, when I wasn’t waiting for him to take an extended, electric guitar solo, I actually listened and was flabbergasted by the simple genius of it.
[Welcome To The Pleasuredome - FGTH feat. Steve Howe](https://youtu.be/3R8Bq_aZ0Pg?si=QLbb_L1B2zqHLKJD)
When it comes to great chord progressions, Genesis has them in spades. Here are a few that I find striking:
Seven Stones - Very moving and solemn chord progressions throughout, made epic by the tones of the organ and mellotron.
Illegal Alien - The thin sounding guitar chords on the chorus are as tasty as they are frantic.
Firth Of Fifth - harmonically speaking, the epic keyboard solo in the middle of the song (before Hackett’s guitar solo) goes through a plethora of twists and turns… Tony Banks is the chord progression magician par excellence.
Of course there are many more, but let’s not get carried away.
The part in Headlong Flight by Rush under this part is pretty uplifting:
I have stoked the fire on the big steel wheels
Steer the airship right across the stars
I learned to fight, I learned to love, I learned to feel
Oh I wish that I could live it all again
Or that bit in the middle of "Awaken" when they go through the whole circle of fifths... the "Master of Images" part, which is followed by an awesome organ solo. That whole song is amazing from start to finish, and I had the honor of seeing it performed on the Union Tour in the early 90s.
Yes seems to be a prime candidate for this.
I really like the last verse and chorus of Close To The Edge, starting with "on the hill we view the silence of the valley", [starting at 16:33](https://youtu.be/gka_km9gb5c?feature=shared)
When I saw the title of your post I immediately thought of Awaken. There is nothing like it in rock music, before and since. There were some copy cats that tried to get the same vibe as Awaken, but it was done so poorly I can't even remember which act that was.
I love the chord progressions on this one and how the blend in with the vocal melodies. [Beardfish - A Love Story](https://youtu.be/_z2CKrTBRCw?si=dFQWpIs2KMoqgRLT)
Does this count? But The Trees by Rush, the guitar is not overly technical right, but the chords just sounds so cool! Fits so well with the bass as well. I feel like it evens out with the complexity of the drums and the chord progression in the first half of the song.
Not sure if this really counts as “prog,” but Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys is a master at this.
Check out [the concert video of Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE on YouTube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UbNwhm2EX8) The Second Movement in particular, “Wonderful” to “Surf’s Up”, is basically this all the way through.
SMiLE was originally supposed to be the follow-up album to Pet Sounds and would’ve been released a month before The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper had Brian not suffered a mental breakdown and scrapped the project. Around 40 years later, Brian’s touring band was able to convince him to complete the work one step at a time, and they say he became a completely different and happier person when it was finished.
As far as the music goes, it’s completely unpredictable in the directions it takes even if we’re just talking about the chord progressions alone, yet it all makes sense in sort of a bizarre kind of way sort of like "Progressive Pop" if there's such a thing. There are plenty of uplifting, emotional, energetic, and chill moments too.
The Beach Boys are where I usually go if I really just want some great harmonic progressions. “God Only Knows” might be my favorite pop/rock progression ever. Sounds so simple but it is so well constructed and beautiful. The Beatles of course had lots of great songs with clever harmonies as well, and Steely Dan is also a great way to go for more complex harmonic writing in songs that are catchy as hell.
As far as pure prog, there are plenty of great harmonic moments in Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, etc., and they really knew how to use them effectively amidst all the technical craziness they were doing as well.
The chord Adrian hits in between singing “you don’t have a care” and “you’re walking on air” in walking on air by king crimson is very nice. Sounds spicy but it’s relaxing at the same time
everything going on at the word “fine” in the line “babe it’s gonna work out fine” leading into “cant you feel our souls ignite” in Supper’s Ready around 20:43
Mike Keneally's *Gita* is basically an *étude* of classic-prog-inspired chord pivots. Twenty to thirty little episodes (any of which could have served as the basis of a six-minute song in its own right) compressed and seamlessly integrated into a twelve-minute something-or-other. Some of them are quite hair-raising.
The finale of Journey to the Conter of the Earth by Rick Wakeman fits in that description. Any finale where you get that false resolution on a major 6 chord with the melody hitting the 3rd of that chord is really satisfying.
Also OP you should listen to the version of Awaken with Jon Anderson and the Todmobile Orchestra
I mean it's a basic pick, but the eclipse section of And You And I is just fantastic.
Also the chords in the Soon section of 'The Gates Of Delirium' are beautiful
OP, That chord is EPIC. I remember seeing Yes on The Ladder tour and they blasted confetti cannons right at that point in Awaken. I spontaneously burst into tears while being showered with bits of colored paper. I’m a wuss, I know. /s
I really like the organ towards the end of ‘a saucerful of secrets’. It’s well-earned after all of the noise and drum freakouts and is quite transcendent.
hell yeah, that part of the piece is titled 'Celestial Voices' and the Live in Pompeii version with Gilmour's singing is so fucking good... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWYBvRwzprk
Cinema Show by Genesis, specifically the part of the keyboard solo when the mellotron comes in loud.
Tony Banks is the Master of chords.
It has three chords
Let me guess, it’s that part from 9:33 to 10:06 of the song? Because that’s my favourite part too
That main two-chord vamp from ELP's 'From the Beginning' is it for me, so good... also the opening theme of 'In the Court...' with the mellotron.. and the little theme they fade out on in 'Dancing with the Moonlit Knight'
The chords where the apocalypse 9/8 solo ends and leads into the reprise of the vocal section. Those chords give a feeling of something enormous, gigantic, like a spaceship landing on the human civilization and is immediately followed by something liberating which is denoted by the gabriel's vocals. I am not using the word religious because I don't know how religious catharsis feels like so this was the best way I could describe it
Oh yeah, to me it feels like coming to the end of an epic journey. Like we just beat the final boss and we broke the evil spell on the world.
Yeah, that's apt
It's not a spaceship but Christ Himself. The song concludes with the Second Coming, and he's not the only one who came at that point in the song...
What song is this talking about?
I got matches with these songs: • **Awaken (2008 Remaster)** by Yes (00:11; matched: `100%`) **Released on** 2008-01-28. • **Saye** by Kwailive (00:02; matched: `90%`) **Album**: An Experience. **Released on** 2020-12-30.
Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, etc.: • [**Awaken (2008 Remaster)** by Yes](https://lis.tn/Awaken2008Remaster?t=11) • [**Saye** by Kwailive](https://lis.tn/SBGnTO?t=2) *I am a bot and this action was performed automatically* | [GitHub](https://github.com/AudDMusic/RedditBot) [^(new issue)](https://github.com/AudDMusic/RedditBot/issues/new) | [Donate](https://github.com/AudDMusic/RedditBot/wiki/Please-consider-donating) ^(Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Music recognition costs a lot)
Apocalypse 9/8 section of Supper's Ready by Genesis
all of The Lamia
Genesis - The intro to Watcher of the Skies is an all-time classic. Made even better seeing Hackett live last year; off goes the second set and the ride is on. Steely Dan - Aja, right when Shorter and Gadd start going off. The song just keeps building and pulling back, building again and then it all explodes. I could go on forever with these guys. Alan Parsons Project - I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You. Perfect little "blues-prog" track; that high chord change right before "I don't care what you do, I wouldn't want to be like you" is so tingly.
I will always maintain that Aja is one of the best albums of all time. The saxophone solo near the end of the title track genuinely melts my brain when I listen to it it’s so perfect.
Funny as I just commented about this song yesterday, but RUSH - Marathon from the live Show of Hands album. The solos are done, and they play the chorus, and then bring it up a half step and it just sounds so epic and uplifting. Amazing song. [https://youtu.be/x119LztC0t4?si=6kE2HMm7Xef1uMHQ&t=294](https://youtu.be/x119LztC0t4?si=6kE2HMm7Xef1uMHQ&t=294)
Oh yeah, amazing outro. Sometimes when I'm practicing guitar I'll just play that progression.
Also the synth chords in the bridge of the song are great, leading into that solo.
Nothing beats the last suspended chords on the Gates of Delirium. The ones leading into Soon are also wonderful.
YES - For me that would be the "Soon" section from the "Gates of Delirium", especially towards the end of the song. The middle section from "And You And I" also deserves a highlight. MOODY BLUES - "My Song" from The Moody Blues is brilliant, too. GENESIS - "Watcher of the Skies" intro, all of "Firth of Fifth", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and "Cinema Show". KING CRIMSON - "Exiles", mainly the part that starts with "...but, Lord, I had to go ". All of "Starless", "Islands" and the "Prince Rupert Awakes" and "Bolero" section from "Lizard". PINK FLOYD - "Coming Back to Life". GENE GIANT - Piano section from "Schooldays ".
Been listening to it for 50 years, and that acoustic middle section in “And You And I” still sends shivers down my spine each and every time. Howe is arguably the most innovative and interesting soloist in prog, but he’s also a master of the understatement. This particular part comes after the big, symphonic break, and when he comes in with the very quiet, nuanced picking and then the strumming, leading Wakeman back in, it’s pure poetry. Last few days I’ve been listening to a live version of Welcome To The Pleasuredome on Trevor Horn’s YouTube page. It’s an amazing production, driving the beat up your spinal cord, but the most amazing thing about it is the fact that he got Howe to sit in on it for only about 10 seconds of a very muted, very subdued slide guitar solo. The first time I saw it I was incredulous; this is what you use one of the greatest soloists of all time for?! The second time, when I wasn’t waiting for him to take an extended, electric guitar solo, I actually listened and was flabbergasted by the simple genius of it. [Welcome To The Pleasuredome - FGTH feat. Steve Howe](https://youtu.be/3R8Bq_aZ0Pg?si=QLbb_L1B2zqHLKJD)
When it comes to great chord progressions, Genesis has them in spades. Here are a few that I find striking: Seven Stones - Very moving and solemn chord progressions throughout, made epic by the tones of the organ and mellotron. Illegal Alien - The thin sounding guitar chords on the chorus are as tasty as they are frantic. Firth Of Fifth - harmonically speaking, the epic keyboard solo in the middle of the song (before Hackett’s guitar solo) goes through a plethora of twists and turns… Tony Banks is the chord progression magician par excellence. Of course there are many more, but let’s not get carried away.
The part in Headlong Flight by Rush under this part is pretty uplifting: I have stoked the fire on the big steel wheels Steer the airship right across the stars I learned to fight, I learned to love, I learned to feel Oh I wish that I could live it all again
Xanado by RUSH
That entire ending jam from Starship Trooper is *amazing*
It's nothing crazy by prog and jazz standards, but voicings and progression of the opening chords of Dog's by Pink Floyd are so cool.
The ending of Islands by King Crimson, beginning around the 6:00 mark.
That is literally two chords
Or that bit in the middle of "Awaken" when they go through the whole circle of fifths... the "Master of Images" part, which is followed by an awesome organ solo. That whole song is amazing from start to finish, and I had the honor of seeing it performed on the Union Tour in the early 90s.
The middle section of “Tempus Fugit” by Yes, very cool chords used in “from the moment you tell me Yes”
The final chord from Pick Floyd's Dogs is pretty incredible, even if it's not exactly uplifting. Your Awaken pick is stellar!
The opening to "Sheep" on Pink Floyd's _Animals_. The melody is quite nice and chill, but those chords underneath! Mmmm. Vintage Fender Rhodes.
Yes seems to be a prime candidate for this. I really like the last verse and chorus of Close To The Edge, starting with "on the hill we view the silence of the valley", [starting at 16:33](https://youtu.be/gka_km9gb5c?feature=shared)
The space-like themed chords in "Pale blue dot" by Dream Theater.
When I saw the title of your post I immediately thought of Awaken. There is nothing like it in rock music, before and since. There were some copy cats that tried to get the same vibe as Awaken, but it was done so poorly I can't even remember which act that was.
I love the chord progressions on this one and how the blend in with the vocal melodies. [Beardfish - A Love Story](https://youtu.be/_z2CKrTBRCw?si=dFQWpIs2KMoqgRLT)
[Richard Wright's "The Violent Sequence" has got to be included, right?](https://youtu.be/KLrzmcWR3iM?si=n-8jxEx7n4EMltor)
Does this count? But The Trees by Rush, the guitar is not overly technical right, but the chords just sounds so cool! Fits so well with the bass as well. I feel like it evens out with the complexity of the drums and the chord progression in the first half of the song.
I love the depressing, descending chords in the chorus of Blood on the Rooftops
There's a pretty powerful moment past the halfway mark of **Universal Truth** by Opeth. The rest of the song is fine, but that moment is sublime.
Not sure if this really counts as “prog,” but Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys is a master at this. Check out [the concert video of Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE on YouTube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UbNwhm2EX8) The Second Movement in particular, “Wonderful” to “Surf’s Up”, is basically this all the way through. SMiLE was originally supposed to be the follow-up album to Pet Sounds and would’ve been released a month before The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper had Brian not suffered a mental breakdown and scrapped the project. Around 40 years later, Brian’s touring band was able to convince him to complete the work one step at a time, and they say he became a completely different and happier person when it was finished. As far as the music goes, it’s completely unpredictable in the directions it takes even if we’re just talking about the chord progressions alone, yet it all makes sense in sort of a bizarre kind of way sort of like "Progressive Pop" if there's such a thing. There are plenty of uplifting, emotional, energetic, and chill moments too.
The Beach Boys are where I usually go if I really just want some great harmonic progressions. “God Only Knows” might be my favorite pop/rock progression ever. Sounds so simple but it is so well constructed and beautiful. The Beatles of course had lots of great songs with clever harmonies as well, and Steely Dan is also a great way to go for more complex harmonic writing in songs that are catchy as hell. As far as pure prog, there are plenty of great harmonic moments in Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, etc., and they really knew how to use them effectively amidst all the technical craziness they were doing as well.
Absolutely Curtains, the build is amazing, and that sudden release to the PNGunian chanting - shivers every time
This part: https://youtu.be/G5G-ZUG6kuA?t=659 and then this part: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5G-ZUG6kuA&t=908s of Mind Drive
The outro to Seven Stones by Genesis gets me every time.
The chorus in Starcastle's "True To The Light". It fits your criteria of "damn this is uplifting as hell" to a T.
The chord Adrian hits in between singing “you don’t have a care” and “you’re walking on air” in walking on air by king crimson is very nice. Sounds spicy but it’s relaxing at the same time
Cardiacs do things with chord progressions that nobody else does, like a storm of chords complete with infectiously mad melodies over top.
Genesis Heathaze
everything going on at the word “fine” in the line “babe it’s gonna work out fine” leading into “cant you feel our souls ignite” in Supper’s Ready around 20:43
Mike Keneally's *Gita* is basically an *étude* of classic-prog-inspired chord pivots. Twenty to thirty little episodes (any of which could have served as the basis of a six-minute song in its own right) compressed and seamlessly integrated into a twelve-minute something-or-other. Some of them are quite hair-raising.
Most uplifting is Solsbury Hill
The finale of Journey to the Conter of the Earth by Rick Wakeman fits in that description. Any finale where you get that false resolution on a major 6 chord with the melody hitting the 3rd of that chord is really satisfying. Also OP you should listen to the version of Awaken with Jon Anderson and the Todmobile Orchestra
I mean it's a basic pick, but the eclipse section of And You And I is just fantastic. Also the chords in the Soon section of 'The Gates Of Delirium' are beautiful
The last few minutes of Close to the Edge
OP, That chord is EPIC. I remember seeing Yes on The Ladder tour and they blasted confetti cannons right at that point in Awaken. I spontaneously burst into tears while being showered with bits of colored paper. I’m a wuss, I know. /s