10 Essential 1990s Progressive Rock Music Albums

Unfairly saddled with the career suicide mantle by multiple gobsmacked critics at the time, Suede's sophomore LP is a wild journey that sees Britpop collide with prog rock.

The result is a remarkable piece of high concept mayhem that manages to encompass a variety of styles that have come before, including glam and art rock. Serving, in turn, as almost a hybrid chronicle of rock music's various trends through the decades, Suede's smorgasbord of ideas extends to their eclectic lyrics. Covering everything from frontman Brett Anderson's drug use to the poetry of William Blake, Suede's heady lyricism proves to be both confounding and compelling.

While the LP received a good number of cautiously positive reviews in the UK, its reception worldwide was a bad sign for the group's commercial progress. Compared to the considerably more consistent acclaim and passing US interest garnered by their self-titled debut in 1993, 'Dog Man Star' proved to be a step back both for the band, and for the notion of such opaque efforts securing major label production.

In the years since, however, the LP's catchy hooks, pop rock riffs, excellent piano work and colorful storytelling have allowed it to find its rightful place as a modern classic. Stretching '90s prog about as far as it could go, 'Dog Man Star' remains a gutsy, fascinating piece of work and one of the few LPs from that decade to challenge where prog could still go at a commercial level.