10 Essential 1970s Progressive Rock Albums

It's the year 2112 and, well, the world is now unfortunately very similar to a piece of science fiction by Ayn Rand. For Neil Peart, Rand's 'Anthem' was a work of essential, inspirational literature. Moved by its depiction of a dreary future dark age where individualism has been run out of town, Peart put it to music.

Coming off an unsuccessful tour and dwindling record sales, Rush were given one last chance by their studio to turn things around. Instead of playing ball and adopting a more commercially friendly sound, the Canadian prog outfit threw caution to the wind with one of their craziest, most complex efforts.

The titular track was one of the band's most ambitious yet in 1976. At 20 minutes, it's a seven chapter epic of escaping dystopia that simply knocked the socks off of listeners at the time. In stark contrast, the rest of the album consists of fast-paced, sub-four minute rock tracks dealing with everything from drugs and travel to seminal TV series The Twilight Zone (no prizes for guessing which song on the track listing is about the show).

'2112' revitalised Rush as the late '70s moved in. The group remained a major figure in prog rock in the years after, pushing it to new boundaries they likely would have missed if it weren't for their inspired, innovative effort here.