The Tangent are Andy Tillison’s vehicle for some of the most unabashedly ambitious symphonic prog of the 21st century. Born in 2003 from a collaboration with members of The Flower Kings and Van der Graaf Generator, the British band has built its name on long, intricate suites, jazz-fusion and Canterbury flavours, and sharp lyrics about the modern world. Here is our fellow fan’s ranking of their finest songs.

The short version

If you only hear a few, make them “In Earnest”, “In Darkest Dreams”, “GPS Culture” and “The Music That Died Alone” — their finest twenty-minute epic, the debut suite that launched them, a joyous fan favourite and one of the most beautiful melodies Tillison ever wrote. The full ranking is below.

Classic prog for the modern world

The Tangent have never disguised their influences — and never apologised for them. Founded in 2003 when keyboardist and composer Andy Tillison sent a demo to Flower Kings leader Roine Stolt, the project quickly became a kind of prog supergroup, uniting Stolt and bassist Jonas Reingold with Van der Graaf Generator saxophonist David Jackson and others. What began as a side project became a band in its own right, built around Tillison’s long, intricate suites, his love of jazz-fusion and the Canterbury sound, and his sharp, witty lyrics about the contemporary world, delivered in an unmistakable Northern English voice. Across two decades and a constantly shifting cast, they’ve become one of modern prog’s most resilient and prolific forces. These fifteen songs are the best.

How we ranked them

This is one fan’s order, weighing those epic suites, melodic and harmonic invention, jazz-fusion adventurousness and lyrical bite. The facts are accurate; the order is a starting point for the debate.

The essential six

At the very top sits “In Earnest” (2006), the twenty-two-minute epic widely held to be their greatest long-form piece — an emotional thrill ride telling the story of a forgotten war veteran. With it: “In Darkest Dreams” (2003), the twenty-minute debut suite and a perennial live highlight; “The Music That Died Alone” (2003), the elegiac title suite built on one of Tillison’s loveliest melodies; “GPS Culture” (2006), the joyous, organ-driven fan favourite; “A Place in the Queue” (2006), the sprawling twenty-five-minute title epic; and “The World That We Drive Through” (2004), the title epic of their jazzier second album.

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Reliably great

The next tier is essential too. “Lie Back and Think of England” (2020) is a twenty-eight-minute epic the band call their most advanced single piece; “The Canterbury Sequence” (2003) is a quirky, affectionate homage to the Canterbury scene; “A Case of Misplaced Optimism” (2018) is a punchy highlight of Proxy; “The Winning Game” (2004) is a witty, jazzy mid-length gem; and “Le Sacre du Travail” (2013) is Tillison’s hour-long electric symphony — his magnum opus.

Deeper cuts

For the dedicated, these reward repeat listens. “A Spark in the Aether” (2015) is a title epic that deliberately echoes their debut; “A Few Steps Down the Wrong Road” (2017) is a highlight of one of their most complex records; “The GPS Vultures” (2022) is a seventeen-minute instrumental jazz-rock tour de force; and “The North Sky” (2024) opens their latest album in atmospheric style.

Every song at a glance

All fifteen songs, in chronological order — each linked to the album it comes from, so you can hear it in context.

Where to start

Begin with the early peaks — the debut The Music That Died Alone and the acclaimed A Place in the Queue — then the jazzier The World That We Drive Through. From there, the ambitious Le Sacre du Travail and the recent run from Proxy to To Follow Polaris reward exploration.

The players

The Tangent are built around Andy Tillison (keyboards, vocals), the composer, singer and one true constant of a famously floating line-up. The debut united Tillison with three Flower Kings — guitarist Roine Stolt and bassist Jonas Reingold among them — alongside multi-instrumentalist Guy Manning, keyboardist Sam Baine and, on saxophone, Van der Graaf Generator’s David Jackson. Since then, players including saxophonist Theo Travis and guitarist Luke Machin have passed through, with Reingold a frequent returning presence.

Why they still matter

The Tangent have spent two decades proving that classic, ambitious progressive rock still has plenty to say about the modern world. Kindred spirits of The Flower Kings (the band that birthed them), Transatlantic and Big Big Train, and unmistakable heirs to the Canterbury tradition of Caravan, they’ve built one of the most consistent catalogues in contemporary prog. For anyone who loves the genre at its most ambitious and unironic, Tillison and company are essential.

Go deeper

Keep exploring: rank their records with our guide to the best The Tangent albums, find an entry point with where to start with The Tangent, or dig into the underrated The Tangent albums. You can also place them in the bigger picture with the best progressive rock songs of all time.

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