Rolling Stone's 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time

You need time to deal with Lateralus — a lot more than the seventy-seven minutes it takes just to play the whole disc. And for much of that time, you will wonder: What the fuck is going on here? Drums, bass and guitars move in jarring cycles of hyperhowl and near-silent death march.

Teetering on the brink of indulgence, De-Loused proves just how much art you can pack into steadfastly aggressive songs and still call them punk.

Future Days sets its sights a little lower. Suzuki mostly sticks to the background, aside from a peculiar attempt at a pop song ("Moonshake"); the rest of the album is three long, dreamy pieces that suggest Can had been listening to electric-era Miles Davis.

Close to the Edge has its moments, but most of this hotly anticipated follow-up is a monumental snore, a dubious hot-air suite whipped up around a handful of promising song fragments.

If Barrett's mental breakdown was the subtext of Dark Side, Wish You Were Here was an explicit tribute to their lost friend.

The Dark Side of the Moon is a fine album with a textural and conceptual richness that not only invites, but demands involvement.