Starting in the mid-sixties, albums became a greater focus and more important as artists created albums of uniformly high quality and coherent themes, a trend which reached its apex in the development of the concept album.

In 1975, Triumvirat reached the apex of their commercial success with the release of Spartacus, which is considered by many as a classic " prog rock " masterpiece album, along with Illusions on a Double Dimple.

Pitchfork Media referred to it as the apex of the album and added that it successfully mixed Flaming Lips-style instrumentation with the energy of Prince's 1983 single " Little Red Corvette ".

The recording and release of their seminal 1985 album Here Comes Everybody marked the apex of their career.

Allmusic was overwhelmingly approving in their assessment, praising the variety brought by the non-Winwood / Capaldi compositions and the power of the lengthy title track, and claiming the album " marked the commercial and artistic apex of the second coming of Traffic ".

For his first local gigs in the early 1970s and Rush's debut album, Lee used a Fender Precision Bass.

Neil Peart used the form for the lyrics of " The Larger Bowl ( A Pantoum )" on Rush's 2007 album, Snakes & Arrows ( with one difference from the format listed above ).

Rush's music style has changed over the years, beginning with blues-inspired heavy metal on their first album, then encompassing hard rock, progressive rock, and a period with heavy use of synthesizers.

Although total worldwide album sales are not calculated by any single entity, as of 2004 several industry sources estimated Rush's total worldwide album sales at over 40 million units.

Fly by Night ( 1975 ), Rush's first album after recruiting Peart, saw the inclusion of the band's first epic mini-tale " By-Tor and the Snow Dog ", replete with complex arrangements and multi-section format.

In light of these events, Rush's record label pressured them into moulding their next album in a more commercially friendly and accessible fashion.

Moreover, because of the limited airplay Rush's previous extended-length songs received, Permanent Waves included shorter, more radio-friendly songs such as " The Spirit of Radio " and " Freewill ", two songs that helped Permanent Waves become Rush's first U. S. Top 5 album ; both songs continue to make appearances on classic rock radio stations in Canada and the United States to this day.

Moving Pictures was Rush's last album to feature an extended song, the eleven-minute " The Camera Eye ".

The album contained Rush's only U. S. top-40 pop hit, " New World Man ", while other more experimental songs such as " Digital Man ", " The Weapon ", and " Chemistry " expanded the band's use of ska, reggae, and funk.

However, Rush's triple CD live album, Rush in Rio ( 2003 ), was certified gold by the RIAA, marking the fourth decade in which a Rush album had been released and certified at least gold.

The band's 2007 album, Snakes & Arrows, debuted at No. 3 ( just one position shy of Rush's highest peaking albums, Counterparts ( 1992 ) and " Clockwork Angels " ( 2012 ), which both debuted at No. 2 ) on the Billboard 200 selling approximately 93, 000 its first week of release.

Modern digital technology has also enabled a power trio to duplicate their studio performances in concert, as evidenced by Rush's 1989 live album, A Show of Hands, where Lee simultaneously sings, plays bass, and plays keyboard with foot pedals.

Following themes going back to Rush's second album, Fly by Night, on Hemispheres lyricist Neil Peart continues to heavily utilize fantasy and science fiction motifs.

The album contains examples of Rush's adherence to progressive rock standards including the use of epic, multi-movement song structures, complex rhythms and time signatures, and flexible guitar solos, like those found in " La Villa Strangiato.

Although Hemispheres received relatively good reviews and became Rush's fourth consecutive gold album in the United States, it proved to be a weaker seller than many of the group's other albums.

A Farewell to Kings would become Rush's first US Gold-selling album, receiving the certification within two months of its release, and was eventually certified Platinum.

* Edmund Blackadder wrote on Sputnikmusic. com that Farewell was " Rush's masterpiece ( closely followed by Hemispheres )", describing the instrumentation as " absolutely brilliant, with every musician at the peak of their talents " and praised the album for its " wide variety of different song types and structures ".

Greg Prato of Allmusic stated in his review of Rush that the album was weaker than some of Rush's later albums, such as Hemispheres and Moving Pictures, because Neil Peart was not yet a part of the band.

The same year, Simon provided vocals on Tom Rush's album Ladies Love Outlaws and co-sang with Rush on " No Regrets " and as backup on " Claim On Me ".

The album shows more of Rush's adherence to hard progressive rock, as opposed to the blues-based heavy metal and hard rock style of the band's first two albums.

Although Rush's previous album, Fly by Night, dabbled in longer conceptual pieces such as " By-Tor & the Snow Dog ," such works were the central focus of Caress of Steel.

* Atmosphere ( Eloy Fritsch album ), an album by Eloy Fritsch, a keyboard player known for his work in the progressive rock group, Apocalypse

* Cortical Tectonics, the third studio album by American progressive metal band Canvas Solaris.

* Chimera ( Andromeda album ), a 2006 album by Swedish progressive metal band Andromeda

From 1975 to 1979, a Canadian progressive power trio, Rush, released three albums containing sidelong epics, regarded by some as concept albums ( though not actually concept albums by strict definition of the term ; that is, none of the other songs on the album have anything to do with each other or the 20-minute sidelong epic, so there is no pervasive concept or story ).

Another progressive rock act, Genesis, released the concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in 1974, a double disc that told the story of the street punk Rael.

In 2005, Christian progressive hard rock artist Neal Morse released the concept album "?

* Clone ( Threshold album ), a 1998 album by British progressive metal band Threshold

In 1981 ELO's sound changed again with the science fiction concept album Time, a throwback to earlier, more progressive rock albums like Eldorado.

This progressive approach allowed him to dominate the country single and album charts while quickly crossing over into the mainstream pop arena, exposing country music to a larger audience.

One British folk / rock band ( 1969 – 2003 ), Lindisfarne, was even named after the island, while a Celtic Christian progressive rock band named after another island, Iona, has a song devoted to Lindisfarne on its album Journey into the Morn ( 1995 ).

*" The Moor ", a song by the Swedish progressive death metal Opeth on their album Still Life

* " Madrigal " ( Yes song ), a 1978 song by British progressive rock band Yes, from the album Tormato

* " Madrigal ", a song by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, from the album My Arms, Your Hearse

A later development was freeform radio, later commercially developed as progressive rock radio, and still later even more commercially developed as AOR ( Album-Oriented Rock ), in which selections from an album would be played together, with an appropriate introduction.

*" Mother Superior ", a song on the album Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow by the progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria

King Crimson's album In the Court of the Crimson King ( 1969 ) has been seen as an important link between psychedelia and progressive rock.

* The fourth movement of the suite " The Fall of the House of Usher " from the progressive rock album Tales of Mystery and Imagination by The Alan Parsons Project ( 1976 )

* The song Pavane from the progressive rock album The Jethro Tull Christmas Album by Jethro Tull.

* The song Pavan from the progressive folk album Evensong by Amazing Blondel.

Canadian progressive rock band Rush have a movement titled " The Temples of Syrinx " in their song " 2112 " on their album 2112.