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From 170 participants in the first ever DPRPoll in 1997, we've grown to what has probably become
the biggest prog rock poll in the world, with nearly 700 people filling out the poll form (692 to be precise).
This page contains a summary of the results of the poll. The full tables can be viewed by clicking
through the 'next table' links in the upper right corner of the screen.
Before we have a look at the results of 2000 we would first like to thank the following
sponsors of the poll prizes:
GEP Records,
InsideOut Music,
DVS Records,
Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon),
Stretchy Records/Ozric Tentacles,
Wolverine,
Gallilei Records,
Kayak,
Clearlight Music,
Pallas,
Tempus Fugit,
and Disque Online.
Participants
As mentioned above, 692 people participated in the DPRPoll 2000. Most people came from The
Netherlands (33%), USA (16%), while Germany (7%), UK (6%) and Canada (5%) also provided quite
some votes, just like last year. In total, inhabitants of no less
than 39 different countries participated in the DPRPoll 2000.
The average participant of the poll was 33 years old, although ages range from 15 to
54 years !
Best Albums of 2000
No less than 312 different albums received votes for Best Album of 2000. Below
you will find the Top 25. The full list will be available soon.
We have provided links to information on DPRP about some of the bands as well as links
to the DPRP reviews of most of these albums.
Some quick explanations about the calculations. 'Votes' are the number of people who voted
for a specific album, regardless if it was their number 1 or number 5. 'Percentage' is the
percentage of all participants that voted for an album. The 'Weighted Points' are calculated
based on the ranking of the (max) 5 albums the participants voted for; their number 1 got 5 points,
number 2 got 4 points, etc. 'Weighted Points' is the sum of these points.
The prog supergroup with Stolt, Morse, Portnoy and Trewavas (the only Marillion member that
still wants to be associated with prog ?) did very well in 2000. Although some people complain
that the group leans to much on the Spock's Beard sound - the band just missed the Top 5 of
biggest disappointments - and don't have their own identity (yet), the album stands proudly at
the top of the best albums list.
Members of Transatlantic also do very well at position 2 and 3. The race between Spock's Beard
and Transatlantic was very tight, with the Beard album even getting more votes ! In the end though,
people placed the Transatlantic albums higher in their lists, resulting in a higher ranking for
Transatlantic.
Still, this is the 4th year in a row that Spock's Beard appears in the Top 5, and even the 3rd
year in a row that their album ends up at number 2 !
Some, like Roger Waters, seem to suffer slightly from a late release in 2000, while others
(IQ) don't do bad at all considering that the album is not available in stores yet.
To the surprise of some people in the DPRP Team, Ayreon's The Dream Sequencer did better
than Flight of the Migrator. Some people voted for 'The Universal Migrator' as the two
albums are collectively known. The weighted points from these votes have been evenly divided
over the two separate albums.
The year 2000 must have been a marvellous year for InsideOut Music,
with 7 out of the Top 10 either being released or distributed by them. Without a doubt the
company has developed in the most important prog outlet in the world.
Best Tracks of 2000
Participants in the Poll were also asked to name their favourite track of
2000. The table below shows the 5 bands which got the most votes, regardless
of which track.
| # |
Band |
Votes |
Percentage |
| 1 |
Transatlantic |
106 |
16.5% |
| 2 |
Spock's Beard |
103 |
16.0% |
| 3 |
Arena |
79 |
12.3% |
| 4 |
Porcupine Tree |
52 |
8.1% |
| 5 |
The Flower Kings |
48 |
7.5% |
As you can see, this top 5 closely resembles the top 5 of best albums.
The next table shows the actual Top 5 out of 182 different 'best tracks' of 2000.
| # |
Band |
Track |
Votes |
Percentage |
| 1 |
Transatlantic |
All of the Above |
70 |
10.9% |
| 2 |
Spock's Beard |
The Great Nothing |
55 |
8.6% |
| 3 |
Arena |
Moviedrome |
45 |
7.0% |
| 4 |
Spock's Beard |
At the End of the Day |
38 |
5.9% |
| 5 |
The Flower Kings |
I Am the Sun |
35 |
5.5% |
Once again the epic 15 minute+ songs rule the charts. Tough luck for those who were planning
to make a home-recorded CD of the Top 5 of this year. With regard to I Am The Sun, some
people voted for part 1, some for part 2 and some didn't specify any part. We have therefore
decided to add all of those together and treat it as one song for the sake of the poll.
Best Artwork of 2000
| # |
Band |
Album |
Votes |
Percentage |
| 1 |
Transatlantic |
SMPTe |
76 |
11.9% |
| 2 |
Arena |
Immortal? |
64 |
10.0% |
| 3 |
Ayreon |
The Dream Sequencer |
62 |
9.7% |
| 4 |
The Flower Kings |
Space Revolver |
53 |
8.3% |
| 5 |
Spock's Beard |
V |
28 |
4.4% |
Okay, 103 different albums received voted for 'Best Artwork', but if almost half of the
people vote for a specific 'best album' and it's also got some nice artwork (released in
two different versions), you probably know what to expect. Per Nordin's design for
the Transatlantic album heads the chart !
For those of you who enjoyed the hilarious spoof on the similarities between the names and
covers of the last Spock's Beard and Symphony X albums: Symphony X ended up at position 8.
Something that should also be mentioned is that Mattias Noren - who among other things designed
the DPRP lay-out and many prog (metal) covers - although not being in the Top 5, gathered no
less than 32 votes (5%) with 5 different covers. Well done Mattias !
Best Concert 2000
Loads of different concerts got votes for best gig of 2000. To get a clear
picture of which bands did best on the stage last year, we'll first have a look at the ones
that got the most votes, regardless of which concert.
| 2000 |
1999 |
Band |
Votes for Best Concert |
Percentage |
| 1 |
6 |
Dream Theater |
81 |
14.1% |
| 2 |
1 |
Spock's Beard |
57 |
9.9% |
| 3 |
- |
Camel |
47 |
8.2% |
| 4 |
2 |
IQ |
39 |
6.8% |
| 5 |
5 |
Yes |
38 |
6.6% |
Dream Theater obviously did very well on the Metropolis 2000 tour, and regardless of the
vocal problems of Andy Latimer, people really seemed to have enjoyed last year's Camel gigs.
Now let's have a look at which of the 573 gigs that received votes got the most votes for
Best Concert 2000.
| # |
Band |
When |
Where |
Votes |
Percentage |
| 1 |
Dream Theater |
14-Oct-2000 |
's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands |
19 |
3.3% |
| 2 |
Spock's Beard |
24-Oct-2000 |
013, Tilburg, Holland |
17 |
3.0% |
| 3 |
IQ |
17-Nov-2000 |
Boerderij Zoetermeer, Holland |
16 |
2.8% |
As always the Dutch gigs receive most votes. Quite what you would expect from a small, densely
populated country with lots of prog fans and only one or a couple of gigs per band.
For the 3rd year in a row the highly energetic Spock's Beard shows are present in the Top 3.
Remarkable is the fact that even though IQ fans were very disappointed having to wait for an hour
outside in the rain at the Boerderij venue, most didn't let it spoil their enjoyment of the
gig.
Best Newcomer
| # |
Band |
Votes |
Percentage |
| 1 |
Transatlantic |
154 |
28.5% |
| 2 |
RPWL |
35 |
6.5% |
| 3 |
Under the Sun |
31 |
5.7% |
| 4 |
Triangle |
20 |
3.7% |
| 5 |
After Forever |
19 |
3.5% |
Gosh ... what a surprise ! ;-)
Biggest Disappointment of 1999
Many different albums, gigs, incidents, etc received votes for 'biggest disappointment'. You'll
be able to browse the full list soon. We grouped the votes until they referred to a unique album,
gig or incident and besides a lot of 'band x did not tour in my country', 'the tour of band
Y got cancelled' and 'I missed the gig of band Z', most votes went to the Top 5 below.
2000 was a disappointing year for Genesis fans. Not only did the band announce the departure of
Ray Wilson and the decision not to plan any future reincarnation of the band, but the second
'collectors box' turned out to be a bit of a bummer as well. Hardly any unreleased material or
must-have tracks that weren't already available in other formats.
Since John Jowitt and Paul Wrightson have left Arena and have been replaced by Rob Sowden and
Ian Salmon the popularity of the band doesn't seem to have increased. The band fails to reach
the same position in the Best Album chart as with 'The Visitor' in 1998 and many people have
chosen an the new Arena album (and tour) as their biggest disappointment.
More remarkable is the fact that even though Marillion didn't release an album and didn't do
many substantially new things in 2000, people insist on picking them as their (continuing)
disappointment of the year. Let's see what happens with their forthcoming Anoraknophonia
album.
Click here if you also want to see how the participants of the poll evaluated DPRP.
Click here if you also want to see the list of prizes and winners.
You can also check out what the DPRP Team voted for themselves.
For comments about the poll, please e-mail Ed Sander.
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