"Epic" compositions worth giving a spin

good thread--reminds me of the period after tommy where every technically-proficient band in england made their "concept albums." looking through some of the above-mentioned, it seems that most were more notable for their ambition than their listenability, the kinks (of course) excluded.
two that i'd toss in:
1. side one of "ogden's nut gone flake" (small faces)--i could never quite grasp what the story's about, but it's funny as hell and periodically rocks like the dickens.
2. richard buckner, the wall--an album length rendering of the poet edgar lee masters' "spoon river" done by my favorite dour folkie. really, really good.stuff.

I'm going to disagree with Bdp re: "The Kinks have two that fit".  They have (at least) three; adding in "Schoolboys in Disgrace".

As to his view that prog rockers "discarded American rock n roll", there's much more than a little truth to that.  Putting aside the technical specifics for a moment, the spirit of early rock n roll was primitivistic and reductionist.  Prog rock went 180 degrees the other way.  OTOH, many "non-prog" bands had already done that years earlier.  Long guitar solos (and any band that employs them) can also be reasonably described as anathema to that early r'n'r spirit.  That covers a lot of ground beyond prog.

While I was a prog fan in the '70s, I'm much less so, now.  My view is less harsh than Bdp's, but I do find that it usually leaves me cold.  Still love a flashy guitar solo, tho.

I like good music. Some of it happens to be prog rock. Also yes it was/is the furthest thing with any rock elements from original rock and roll of Chuck Berry and company pretty much by definition. Most rock music falls in between the two somewhere. So its a continuum of styles ie all shades of grey from rock and roll to prog rock, not black and white.

Neither extreme forms are all that popular these days. Things have head off in many different directions since the term prog rock was originally coined.

Viva la music!

Personal favorites listed below, some already mentioned. You can add to this list any one of 100s of symphonies and tone poems but the likes of Bruckner, Dvorak, Strauss, Mahler, Sibelius, Elgar, Shostakovich, etc....the list goes on and on.

Camel: Snow Goose….
ELP: Pictures at an Exhibition, Tarkus and Karn Evil 9
Pink Floyd: Dogs, Echoes, The Wall, Atom Heart Mother Suite
Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick
RUSH: 2112, Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage and Book II: Hemispheres,
RUSH: La Villa Strangiato, The Fountain of Lamneth, Xanadu
Genesis: In This Cage->Afterglow, Supper’s Ready
Genesis: Cinema Show, The Battle of Epping Forest
Queensryche: OPERATION MINDCRIME
YES: Gates of Delirium, The Revealing Science of God, Close to the Edge:
Dream Theater: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Change of Season, Octavarium
Dream Theater: In the Presence of Enemies, Metropolis Pt. 2
Supertramp: Fool’s Overture
Spock’s Beard: The Great Nothing, The Water
Green Carnation: Light of Day/Day of Nothing
Keith Jarrett: The Vienna Concert, The Kohn Concert, etc…
master of long improvisations on themes spanning entire concerts
Pat Metheny Group: The Way Up:
SOLARIS: Marsbéli Krónikák (Martian Chronicles)
SOLARIS: Nostradamus: Próféciák könyve (Nostradamus: Book of Prophecies)

Forgot to include the following;

ELOY: Land of No Body, The Light from Deep Darkness, Poseidon's Creation, 
"Atlantis' Agony at June 5th - 8498, 13 p.m. Gregorian Earthtime", The Apocalypse,
Reflections from Spheres Beyond, The Answer