Ian Anderson, the singer and main songwriter of Tull, repeatedly said that Aqualung was just a "bunch of songs". It's true that it isn't a concept album as such, but it just about classes as progressive in my book. Listen to the title track, "Locomotive Breath" and "Mother Goose", and I think you'll see what I mean. There's little doubt that this is among the top few Jethro Tull albums, and the quality of the songwriting is stunning. The musicianship is also next to none: listen to Anderson's jazz flute solo on "My God", as an example, but the band has one mind even through the most complex passages. This may be just a bunch of songs, but it's one of the best bunch of songs around.

Although I regularly switch between stages of listening exclusively to certain albums and artists, this album holds pride of place as my all time favourite. For me, it's as close to perfection as I've ever heard. It is certainly inspired by classical music, which is especially evident in the 19-minute epic title track. It's hard to believe that five ordinary (or "ordinary") men could produce something so other-worldy. It's certainly not easy to digest, but it's worth every ounce of effort for Rick Wakeman's climactic organ solo, and the "I get up" theme, one of the most beautiful things that they created. "And You And I" is lighter in comparison, though it hardly qualifies for radio play at 10 minutes in length. Siberian Khatru has an inspired guitar riff that never seems to get old, and the kind of energy that few bands can deliver. This music is complex, inspired and almost too good to listen to too much: you can lose the wonder of the music through familiarity. I realise that this isn't for everyone, and that's fine. But I urge you to give this album several listens, to give it the time it deserves. People often rave about "Fragile" being the best Yes album; as brilliant as it is, "Close To The Edge" is a far more accomplished and self-consistent work. For some reason, it always feels like you're doing much more than just listening to music.

This was Bowie's first release after his breakthrough album, "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars". Although Ziggy is a fantastic album, personally I think this is far more accomplished work. It is admittedly more difficult to listen to in parts, such as the bizarre but legendary piano solo by Mike Garson on the title track, but equally rewarding. It was clear with this album that Bowie wasn't playing to the fans, and was determined to follow his own direction, which was further confirmed later that year when he announced that "Ziggy" was "retiring". This is one of his more rocky albums, and with the help of "The Spiders from Mars" et al. he pulls it off beautifully. The great successes of the album are "Cracked Actor", the infamous "Time" and the strangely beautiful "Lady Grinning Soul". This is essential Bowie, but perhaps not the best choice for a newcomer.

Rick Wakeman is, in my opinion, one of the greatest musicians to grace rock music. He studied piano, clarinet and orchestration at the Royal College of Music, but left to become a session musician. This is brilliant, because he had a huge influence in music, if not just giving thousands upon thousands of budding keyboard players that they could be more than just background noise. This work is an absolute masterpiece, and manages to sound epic in spite of the recording limitations of the day. His classical training comes through strongly in his use of strong, recurring melodic themes, which he uses as focuses (sounds less poncy than foci) to build his songs around. The adventurous arrangements have been prepared with great skill, and they consist of a rock band, the largest number of keyboards you can think of, and a choir. His technical skills on the keyboard are nothing short of incredible, and "Jane Seymour" gives you a taste of his ability. His song writing ability is demonstrated at its very best on tracks such as "Catherine Howard" and "Anne Boleyn", which have melodies that you will be humming for days. Not classical, but not quite rock: this is an essential prog album.

One of the most popular bands of the 70s, Roxy Music are almost unheard of to the generations of today. This is very unfortunate, because there is so much artistry in their music, and the sounds are still fresh even where the production isn't. Siren was Roxy's fifth album, and demonstrated that they would never do things half-heartedly; in fact you could quite easily argue that each one of their albums was a great success, depending on the flexibility of your taste. Siren received almost unanimous praise, and rightly so. "Love is the Drug" was heralded in being given a position in "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll", and this and "Both Ends Burning" are live favourites that are still performed to this day. While they are brilliant songs I would actually argue for the beautiful harmonies of "End of the Line", the intense brilliance of "Sentimental Fool" and the playful transpositions of "She Sells". It's difficult to define a pinnacle of Roxy Music's achievements, but this is pretty close.

This album was made around the time of Bowie's first major acting role, in the film "The Man Who Fell To Earth". In fact, this album was originally going to be a soundtrack for the film, until Bowie found out that he was one of several people who had been asked to create the soundtrack, so that the producers could choose between them. So he put the music he'd created into this album. This was made during the height of Bowie's musical output (from 1969 to 1980 he produced 13 studio albums), and also during the height of Bowie's drug-taking. He spent most of his life at the time being intensely paranoid, but it certainly didn't hurt the music. The diversity on this album is astounding: just listen to the 10 minute, rocky title track, the funk-inspired "Stay" and the velvet "Wild Is the Wind". My personal favourite is "Word on a Wing", which is brilliant musically, but also shows quite a different side of Bowie than normal. There is no other album that serves as a comparison, as is the case with all of Bowie's best.

I was once recommended by a friend to have a listen to some Steely Dan. I asked him, "which album should I get first?", expecting him to tell me their best, and those to avoid. His reply was, "any of them". I obviously trusted this friend, as I bought three of their albums in one go: Aja, Pretzel Logic and this. And it is perfectly true, Steely Dan were amazingly consistent with the quality of their music, and you can't really go wrong in buying any of their albums. It's The Royal Scam is quite possibly their finest, despite featuring a decidedly creepy piece of artwork as the front cover, and tracks such as "Kid Charlemagne", "Sign in Stranger" and "Green Earrings" show their musical capabilities and songwriting prowess at their very highest. I doubt that this band ever played out of time with each other, and each track is beautifully polished yet unclinical. Every detail of the band is accentuated, and no instrument is lost within the mix. The attention to small details separates Steely Dan from other Jazz/Rock fusions of the time, and Fagen's insightful and cynical lyrics add icing to the cake. Believe it or not, they're still going... mostly.

Low is the first in the "Berlin Triology", three albums that Bowie made with Brian Eno (in Berlin...) during a period of attempting to get clean from drugs. The result was three albums that stand out among Bowie's mostly illustrious career. Low is an unusual mix of electronica, rock and ambient vocals, combined with some of the most perfect song writing possible. "Sound And Vision" is definitely the most well known of all the tracks on the album, quite possibly since it's the most palatable, but personally I think that the real gold lies in tracks such as "A New Career In A New Town", and "Art Decade". The album can be (and was, in the day of records) split in to two parts, with the first half containing songs with a more obvious structure and the second half containing more lengthy, generally instrumental tracks. This album proved that Bowie knew how to do "avant-garde", and how to do it well.

Manifesto is always overlooked as a Roxy album, which is a crime. The world of music was going through a huge transition, in the form of punk, but Roxy were holding their place. Despite a three year gap, their longest break up until that point, their new music was as strong as ever. The opening track, also the album's name, seems at first to drag out the motif, but you soon come to love the space before the fast pace of the following tracks. The album has everything: classic Roxy that we know and love, such as the angular rock of "Still Falls the Rain"; the more arty side of rock, in the cool "Ain't That So"; and nods towards the coming "Avalon" era, in the harmonious "Spin Me Round". A good word to describe this music is "sophisticated": everything is well thought out, precisely placed and perfectly executed. This is also the last album that felt like Roxy Music, as they were then known to be. Buy it, you'll love it.

After Roger Water's disappointing swan song with Pink Floyd, "The Final Cut", critics were unanimously pleased that his first solo album, "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking", showed the same creativity and inspiration as the albums produced during the height of Pink Floyd's career. "Amused To Death" is his third album, and regarded by many to be his best. It is both musically and lyrically amongst Waters' very best work. Personally, I think that he found his niche when writing "The Wall" (1979), and Amused follows that similar eclectic musical style. Tracks like "Perfect Sense", "It's a Miracle" and "Amused to Death" show him at his very best.

This was DMB's first studio album, and it remains as one of their best. With their huge range of musical styles and incredible talent they are one of a kind, and a breath of fresh air from the processed, formulaic pop that plagues 95% of the radio waves today. This album does them great justice, although you'd be forgiven for not getting it on the first few listens. The album opens with "The Best of What's Around", which weaves melodically and vocally to what seems like no purpose. In fact, this becomes your opinion of the album, until the day when it all clicks. Suddenly "Satellite" becomes one of your most played songs, you love the comedic lift of "Ants Marching" and you chill out to the velvet sax solo in "#34". If you don't own a DMB album I'd recommend buying "Before These Crowded Streets" or "Everyday", but don't miss out on this masterpiece.

I came across Arcade Fire through David Bowie, as he gave Funeral considerable praise when the Canadian band had very little international fame, calling it the year's essential album. They probably owe him a lot for their commercial success, but the music speaks for itself. The opening track sets an atmosphere unlike any other I've experienced, due to excellent musical craft, unusual arrangements and Win Butler's tense and strangled vocals. Though it is often dubbed as being "indie", it is highly eclectic, and transcends genres within single songs. There isn't a weak track on the album, which flows from the operatic to the exposed in no time at all. I generally avoid indie music, on the basis that it's almost always boring, but this album blows everything else out of the water.