13 Great Prog Songs Lasting Under 4 Minutes

Well, time for some music recommendations! Rather that throwing my readers right into side-long suites, I’m going to start with prog at its most accessible. While long extended songs make prog what it is, on occasion a prog band would create a short song, sometimes even a single, for fun and for recognition. These are some of my favorites, in chronological order.

Curved Air, Back Street Luv (1971); 3:37
Curved Air was a British band featuring Sonja Kristina on vocals, Darryl Way on drums and violin, Francis Monkman on guitar and keyboards, Florian Pilkington-Miksa on drums, and Ian Eyre on bass at the time of Second Album. Kristina is considered my many as one of prog’s top female vocalists. This defiantly helps out on “Back Street Luv”, a song about prostitution. Kristina’s strong vocal presence drives this song, not to mention the very heavy drumming and Moog synthesizers in the background. The song hit number four on the British charts, but unfortunately never broke in America.

Jethro Tull, Hymn 43 (1971); 3:19
On Aqualung, one of Tull’s best known albums, the B side of the record contains an attack on organized religion. Ian Anderson’s vocals are quite dramatic here, and his flute playing is very aggressive. We can’t forget guitarist Martin Barre, bassist Jeffrey Hammond, keyboardist John Evan, and drummer Clive Bunker (his last album with Jethro Tull.) I particularly like the smooth guitar on this track.

Yes, A Venture (1971); 3:15
Yes’s popularity broke through during 1971 on the strength of tracks like “I’ve Seen all Good People” and “Starship Trooper”. On the same album (The Yes Album), A Venture takes a largely ignored role. It’s quite unfortunate, as this song has quite a bit of bouncing rhythm and honky-tonk piano without any tackiness. Jon Anderson’s falsetto-like vocals (Editor’s Note: His natural singing and speaking voice is actually that high!) sound very strong and medieval to fit the theme at hand, and the keyboard element is featured quite strongly, which is not common for this era of Yes. Highly recommended.

Focus, Sylvia (1972); 3:32
Do you like guitar? Then you will like Focus. Focus, from the Netherlands, may very well be the most hardcore band ever. Guitarist Jan Akkerman is one of the best guitarists I’ve ever heard, on par with Hendrix. Let us not forget the always entertaining Thjis van Leer on keyboards, one of the funniest men in prog! Burt Ruiter plays bass and Pierre van der Linden provides drums on the album Focus 3 where Sylvia is found. This song was originally composed by van Leer for a girl who sang with him in a backing group for a Dutch superstar, and she hated it. Later, he reworked it for Focus. Akkerman’s guitar skills are at the fore, and his solo is a great example of how wonderful prog rock guitar sounds. No lyrics, just some wails of sorts from van Leer.

Pink Floyd, Burning Bridges (1972); 3:30
In 1972, Pink Floyd recorded a soundtrack called Obscured by Clouds for French film La Valée. While not their best work by any measure, there were several great tracks, this being one. Burning Bridges is distinctively Pink Floyd, with spacious, cloudlike keyboards carrying forward the mood. Heavy drum pounding and Rick Wright’s rich vocal add to the power of this song. Great for thinking too.

King Crimson, Book of Saturday (1973); 2:56
King Crimson had had no consistent line up at all since its 1969 founding. On Lark’s Tongues in Aspic, their 5th studio album, the lineup consisted of Robert Fripp on guitar (the only consistent member, can’t be KC without him), John Wetton on bass and vocals, Bill Buford on drums, Jamie Muir on percussion, and David Cross on violin. Book of Saturday is an interesting song. Unlike most Crimson songs, the vocals take center stage, with Wetton’s distinctive baritone carrying the early part. Later on, the violin becomes more prominent. The guitar sound is played as so it can’t be really discerned weather Fripp plays electric or acoustic. Overall, the song is a ballad-type, with no percussion at all. A very nice soft piece from one of the great prog albums.

Le Orme, L'equilibrio (1973); 3:48
One of the many great prog bands out of Italy, Le Orme hailed from the area around Venice. In 1973, they released Felona e Sorona, widely considered their best effort. This song (and album) is a great introduction to Italian prog. It has the nations signature synth sound, very cheesy by modern production standards, yet they manage to work. Le Orme also uses a fair bit of piano here, to great effect. Other instruments don’t come to the fore. Members were Aldo Tagliapietra on vocals/bass/guitar, Tony Paglucia on keyboards, and Giuseppe de Rossi on drums. Very 70s, very progressive, very good.

Rick Wakeman, Catherine of Aragon (1973); 3:47
Wakeman is most famous as the on-again, off-again keyboardist from Yes. On The Six Wives of Henry VIII, his first attempt at solo material, Wakeman used a crapload of equipment to make an extremely digital sound, strange for emulating Tudor times. While this pompousness drags some of the tracks down (Anne of Cleaves), it actually works very well for Catherine of Aragon. Not much besides the grand piano and synthesizer is heard on the track. The very forceful piece includes a choir. Probably the least accessible piece on this list, but worth looking into.

Camel, Supertwister (1974); 3:19
Camel is one of those bands that every proghead knows, but everyone else doesn’t. I absolutely love these guys. Classic Camel consisted of Andrew Latimer (Guitar, Vocals, Flute), Doug Ferguson (Bass), Peter Bardens (Keyboards), and Andy Ward (Drums). This instrumental from their Mirage album is an absolute gem! Basically an extended flute solo, this song also has great bass and keyboards to accompany. Brief, but great melody. This is a great song for the sympho-prog fans.

Tangerine Dream, Sequent C (1974); 2:20
These giants of progressive electronic released the album Phaedra in 1974. While most of the songs take up 9 or more minutes, the album finishes with this short breath of air. Using the mellotron synthesizer, TD creates an ambient flute atmosphere without the use of any woodwinds. This song is not engaging really, just light, airy, and relaxing. Great intro to the mellotron.

Genesis, Counting Out Time (1974); 3:36
During 1974, Genesis’ front man Peter Gabriel came up with the double concept album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The rest of the band consisted of Phil Collins (yes, that Phil Collins) on drums, Mike Rutherford on bass, Tony Banks on keyboards, and Steve Hackett on guitar. Counting Out Time clashed with the somewhat darker tone of parts of the lamb, as the song is quite upbeat and a bit silly at parts. The silly sound effects work together with fun keyboards /piano and bombastic vocals. Prog at her most accessible.

Renaissance, I Think of You (1974); 3:07
Prog rock isn’t exactly known for love songs. However, this one defiantly delivers the goods. Sung by Annie Haslam, with a 5 octave vocal range, this song is an acoustic ballad loceted on Turn of The Cards. Renaissance was a near all acoustic band, as they used no electric guitar or piano and the bass is essentially nonexistent. The band’s signature is this acoustic, classic sound. Members at the time were Haslam, John Tout on piano, John Camp “on bass”, Terry Sullivan on drums, and Michael Dunford on guitar. Good stuff.

Camel, Rhayader (1975); 3:02
More Camel! Their 1975 album The Snow Goose was all instrumental, based on the book of the same name (evidently quite popular in England). Rhayader, the protagonist, is introduced through this electronic and flute led piece. The flute finds its way into prog quite often, and I absolutely love the melody here. Pete Bardens contributes a keyboard heavy section in the middle, with the flute passages bookending. A single version lasting 3:13 exists.