Top 30 Prog Albums 2000-2019 - The Prog Report

A list of the best prog rock albums of the first 2 decades of the new millennium. The list looks at the modern prog landscape from a larger scale point of view, recognizing those bands and albums that have had the largest influence on the genre over the last 20 years from 2000-2019. Here you will see some familiar faces like Steven Wilson, Transatlantic, Opeth, Dream Theater, along with the likes of Spock’s Beard, Riverside, Anathema, Haken, and many more.

Are these the definite best of the decade? No doubt there will be some debate. But we feel these are the albums you would have to know if you were exploring this era of prog. Enjoy and let the debate begin.

[vincenthawke]

Hand Cannot Erase is such a masterpiece!

[DanielVerberne]

I remember my first in-depth listen to Porcupine Tree's "In Absentia" with good headphones. It was a trip; dark, brutally so at times, but also full of beauty and rich atmosphere. It was quite a ride with such dark and yet beautiful material.

[abhishekjoshi]

Steven Wilson is Giga Chad. Everything he touches is a masterpiece.

[TimJackson-eqiy]

As an old Prog rocker from way back. I am glad that the fire is still burning brightly.

[fourseasons]

My top 10 personal favorites:
1. Dream Theater- Six degrees of inner turbulence
2. Opeth- Blackwater park
3. BTBAM- Future sequence
4. Devin Townsend project- Deconstruction
5. Mastodon- Crack the Skye
6. Transatlantic- Bridge across forever
7. Ayreon- The human equation
8. Porcupine tree- Fear of a blank planet
9. Haken- The mountain
10. IQ- Road of bones

[meanangel]

Anything by Haken is out of this world, and truly progressive.

[Gos]

Just listing a few of my favorites.
Gazpacho - March of Ghosts, Night, Tick Tock, Demon, Missa Atropos, Molok, Soyuz (art rock/prog)
Big Big Train - The Underfall Yard, Far Skies Deep Time, Grand Tour (neo prog)

Mystery - Delusion Rain, Beneath The Veil of Winter's Face, The World Is A Game (neo prog)
Chroma Key - You Go Now, Graveyard Mountain Home (electronica/prog/ambient)

OSI - Free, Fire Make Thunder (electronica/prog metal)
Dredg - El Cielo (alt rock/prog)
Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name (prog metal)
IQ - Resistance (prog/metal)
Steven Wilson - Hand Cannot Erase

Tiger Moth Tales - Cocoon, The Depths of Winter (neo prog)
Diagonal - Arc (psych rock/prog)
The Flower Kings - Stardust We Are



honorary prog folk mentions
Kate Bush - Aerial
Crystal Bright & The Silver Hands - The Absolute Elsewhere

Karen Elson - Double Roses
Joanna Newsom - Divers

[jacobmarsh]

Personally I'd include:

Cynic - Traced in Air
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Protest the Hero - Fortress
Wilderun - Veil of Imagination

[skippyjones]

BTBAM - Colors. It's in my top 5 albums of all time and I'd argue has been hugely influential on heavy prog since it's release.

[kodi]

I am SO HAPPY Empath made the list, I feel its still been missed out by a lot of people and its incredible, one of my favorite albums for sure. Singularity is such an incredible experience.
Also love seeing Haken here, The mountain is a top tier album in general.

This could be outside of prog to personal opinion, but Uneven Structure - Februus is one of the top picks for me

[JustOneWillingSoul]

Man, thanks for this. I was totally enamored from the moment I heard the opening riff of Evolution by Symphony X (V is one of my favorites of all time) ; and concluding on The Whirlwind was a perfect ending (also one of my favorites of all time). Every album I heard on here that caught my ear I saved to a playlist, so now I've got all sorts of great new music to explore. I will say that when I hear Neal Morse it's like my Heart Chakra instantly opens and energizes. There is so much power in his music it's ridiculous. How can you not be in tears at the end of The Similitude of Dream? (The Great Adventure is equally brilliant).

[jasongoad]

Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy are the Kings of Prog Rock!

[Danothar]

What a hard selection to make. I would add Quiet World by Native Construct. It's an album often overlooked since the band never released a second album, but it is SO FANTASTIC!

[spaceman_sz]

I cannot believe there's no BTBAM

[shaikhfaridh]

Gojira - lenfant sauvage
Gojira - from mars to sirius
Porcupine tree - in absentia
Nospun - opus
King gizzard - petrodragonic
Mastodon - Leviathan
Symphony X - the divine wings of tragedy
Dream theater - metropolis pt2
Haken - affinity, Virus
Tools - lateralus
Opeth - blackwater park

[oundurra]

Great list. For my ears this two decades is all about Tool + Steven Wilson magical wand. And of course Radiohead, despite they always said that hated progressive rock, and many people still argue if Radiohead and Pink Floyd are prog rock, for me, absolutely! they are the Christophorus Columbus of progressive rock.

1. Tool: Lateralus, Fear Inoculum, 10.000 Days
2. Porcupine Tree: All albums since Lightbulb Sun to the last
3. Steven Wilson: First four albums.
4. Opeth: All albums since Blackwater Park
5. 05ric & Gavin Harrison: Circles
6. Radiohead: From Kid A to In Rainbows

[Sunamar]

Great list, a little bit surprised that neither Haken's Affinity nor Caligula's Horse's In Contact were featured, but besides a list I could definitely agree with. Nice to see that I'm not the only huge fan of Whirlwind 😀 Looking forward to more interesting recommendations what to listen to!

[synen]

Such lists are subjective and yours is pretty good, I would have included IQ The Road of Bones somewhere in this list for sure.

[dalt]

For this list I would have added: Wobbler (From Silence to Somewhere), Beardfish (Sleeping in Traffic: Part One), Phideaux (Doomsday Afternoon), The Tangent (Music That Died Alone), Unitopia (More Than a Dream), Pendragon (Not of this World), Änglagård (Viljans öga), Magenta (Seven), and Universal Totem Orchestra (Mathematical Mother).

[carlosabeltramedebarros]

PENDRAGON - Not of This World
PENDRAGON - Pure