List of rock epics

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A rock epic, or rock ballad is a typically multi-parted, unusually long rock song that pertains to one story or concept. Some epics do not necessarily pertain to one solid concept, because they are entirely instrumental. They are also sometimes called suites. Rock epics are most commonly found in progressive rock and progressive metal. Epics can be quite lengthy, some exceeding 45 minutes long.
History
Edward Macan credits Pink Floyd with pioneering "the space rock epic during the late 1960s with a trio of pieces: 'Astronomy Domine,' 'Interstellar Overdrive,' and 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun'..."
List
1960s
*"Desolation Row" - Bob Dylan - 1965 (11:21)
*"" - The Rolling Stones - 1966 (11:13)
*"Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" - Bob Dylan - 1966 (11:19)
*"The End" - The Doors - 1967 (11:42)
*"When The Music's Over" - The Doors - 1967 (11:02)
*"Interstellar Overdrive" - Pink Floyd - 1967 (9:41)
*"A Quick One, While He's Away" - The Who - 1967 (9:10)
*"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" - Iron Butterfly - 1968 (17:10)
*"A Saucerful of Secrets" - Pink Floyd - 1968 (11:56)
*"In Held 'Twas in I" - Procol Harum - 1968 (17:31)
*"Sister Ray" - The Velvet Underground - 1968 (17:27)
*"Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" - Crosby, Stills & Nash - 1969 (7:25)
*"April" - Deep Purple - 1969 (12:10)
*"Sysyphus" - Pink Floyd - 1969 (13:26)
*"The Narrow Way" - Pink Floyd - 1969 (12:17)
*"The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" - Pink Floyd - 1969 (8:44)
*"" - The Jimi Hendrix Experience - 1969 (13:39)
*"21st Century Schizoid Man" - King Crimson - 1969 (7:24)
*"Epitaph" - King Crimson - 1969 (8:47)
*"Moonchild" - King Crimson - 1969 (12:12)
*"The Court of the Crimson King" - King Crimson - 1969 (9:22)
*"" - The Beatles - 1969 (7:44)
*"Hey Jude" - The Beatles - 1969 (7:06)
1970s
*"Child in Time" - Deep Purple - 1970 (10:17)
*"Atom Heart Mother" - Pink Floyd - 1970 (23:44)
*"The Devil's Triangle" - King Crimson - 1970 (11:39)
*"Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin - 1971 (8:02)
*"War Pigs" - Black Sabbath - 1971 (7:57)
*"Iron Man" - Black Sabbath - 1971 (5:58)
*"Nine Feet Underground" - Caravan - 1971 (22:43)
*"Lizard" - King Crimson - 1971 (23:15)
*"Tarkus" - Emerson, Lake & Palmer - 1971 (20:39)
*"American Pie" - Don McLean - 1971 (8:36)
*"Echoes" - Pink Floyd - 1971 (23:31 LP version, 16:30 single edit from Echoes)
*"Starship Trooper" - Yes - 1971 (9:25)
*"Yours Is No Disgrace" - Yes - 1971 (9:42)
*"Perpetual Change" - Yes - 1971 (8:54)
*"Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who - 1971 (8:32)
*"The Musical Box" - Genesis - 1971 (10:24)
*"A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" - Van Der Graaf Generator - 1971 (23:12)
*"Close to the Edge" - Yes - 1972 (18:41)
*"And You and I" - Yes - 1972 (10:07)
*"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" - The Temptations - 1972 (11:47)
*"Thick as a Brick" - Jethro Tull - 1972 (43:49)
*"Supper's Ready" - Genesis - 1972 (22:55)
*"A Passion Play" - Jethro Tull - 1973 (45:06)
*"Trilogy" - Emerson, Lake & Palmer - 1972 (8:51)
*"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" - Elton John - 1973 (11:06)
*"Fall of the House of Usher" - The Alan Parsons Project - 1973 (16:11)
*"The Battle of Epping Forest" - Genesis - 1973 (11:46)
*"The Cinema Show" - Genesis - 1973 (10:48)
*"Karn Evil 9" - Emerson, Lake & Palmer - 1973 (29:34)
*"Illusions On A Double Dimple" - Triumvirat - 1973 (22:59)
*"Mister Ten Percent" - Triumvirat - 1973 (21:22)
*" - King Crimson - 1973, 1984, 2000 (36:00)
*"Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd - 1973 (9:07)
*"Tubular Bells" - Mike Oldfield - 1973 (48:56)
*"Tales from Topographic Oceans" - Yes - 1973 (81:04)
*"The Gates of Delirium" - Yes - 1974 (21:50)
*"Journey/Recollection" - Rick Wakeman - 1974 (21:10)
*"Battle/The Forest" - Rick Wakeman - 1974 (18:57)
*"By-Tor & The Snow Dog - Rush - 1975 (8:40)
*"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" - Pink Floyd - 1975 (25:59 LP version, 10:41 single edit from A Collection of Great Dance Songs, 17:32 Echoes version)
*"Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen - 1975 (5:55)
*"Green Grass and High Tides" - The Outlaws - 1975 (9:49)
*"The Necromancer" - Rush - 1975 (12:32)
*"Jungleland" - Bruce Springsteen - 1975 (9:34)
*"The Fountain of Lamneth" - Rush - 1975 (19:58)
*"The Blinding Light Show" - Triumph - 1976 (8:48)
*"2112" - Rush - 1976 (20:33)
*"Carry On Wayward Son" - Kansas - 1976 (5:25)
*"Do You Feel Like We Do" - Peter Frampton - 1976 (14:15)
*"Foreplay/Long Time" - Boston - 1976 (7:47)
*"Achilles Last Stand" - Led Zeppelin - 1976 (10:25)
*"" - Blue Öyster Cult - 1976 (5:08)
*"The City" - Triumph - 1977 (9:39)
*"Dogs" - Pink Floyd - 1977 (17:08)
*"" - Pink Floyd - 1977 (11:28)
*"Come Sail Away" - Styx - 1977 (6:07)
*"Sheep" - Pink Floyd - 1977 (10:20)
*"Fool's Overture" - Supertramp - 1977 (10:57)
*"Hotel California" - The Eagles - 1977 (6:31)
*"Awaken" - Yes - 1977 (15:31)
*"Xanadu" - Rush - 1977 (11:07)
*"Cygnus X-1 duology" - Rush - 1977/1978 (28:30)
*"La Villa Strangiato" - Rush - 1978 (9:35)
*"Street Hassle - Lou Reed - 1978 (11:00)
*"Another Brick in the Wall" - Pink Floyd - 1979 - (8:22)
*"Johnny Was" - Stiff Little Fingers (covering Bob Marley) - 1979 - (8:12)
1980s
*"Natural Science" - Rush - 1980 (9:16)
*"Behind the Lines/Duchess" - Genesis - 1980 (11:46)
*"Duke's Travels/Duke's End" - Genesis - 1980 (10:47)
*"The Turn of a Friendly Card Suite" - The Alan Parsons Project - 1980 (16:21)
*"The Camera Eye" - Rush - 1981 (10:59)
*"Abacab" - Genesis - 1981 (7:03)
*"Hallowed Be Thy Name" - Iron Maiden - 1982 (7:12)
*"Grendel" - Marillion - 1982 (17:15)
*"Tunnel of Love" - Dire Straits - 1981 (08:08)
*"Telegraph Road" - Dire Straits - 1982 (14:21)
*"Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea" - Genesis - 1983 (11:16)
*"The Four Horsemen" - Metallica - 1986 (7:13)
*"To Tame A Land" - Iron Maiden - 1983 (7:27)
*"" - Roger Waters - 1984 (4:36)
*"Nature Trail to Hell - - 1984 (5:50)
*"Rime of the Ancient Mariner" - Iron Maiden - 1984 (13:39)
*"Fade To Black" - Metallica - 1984 (6:53)
*"At War with Satan" - Venom - 1984 (19:57)
*"Brother Where You Bound" - Supertramp - 1985 (16:30)
*"The Ivory Gate of Dreams" - Fates Warning - 1988 (21:58)
*"Domino - Genesis - 1986 (10:45)
*"Master of Puppets" - Metallica -1986 (8:38)
*"Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" - Metallica - 1986 (6:27)
*"Disposable Heroes" - Metallica - 1986 (8:16)
*"Halloween" - Helloween - 1987 (13:18)
*"Sorrow" - Pink Floyd - 1987 (8:47)
*"One" - Metallica - (7:24)
*"The Killing Hand" - Dream Theater - 1989 (8:40)
*"Brother Of Mine" - Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe - 1989 (10:18)
*"Quartet" - Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe - 1989 - (9:23)
*"Order of the Universe" - Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe - 1989 (9:02)
1990s
*"Three Days" - Jane's Addiction - 1990 (10:49)
*"Amarok" - Mike Oldfield - 1990 (60:02)
*"Fading Lights" - Genesis - 1991 (10:16)
*"Driving the Last Spike" - Genesis - 1991 - (10:08)
*"November Rain" - Guns N' Roses - 1991 (8:58)
*"Silent Jealousy" - X Japan - 1991 (7:19)
*"Dr. Rock - Ween - 1991 (3:11)
*"Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts" - Manowar - 1992 (28:38)
*"Dry County" - Bon Jovi - 1992 (9:52)
*"Learning to Live" - Dream Theater - 1992 (11:30)
*"Silverfuck" - Smashing Pumpkins - 1993 (8:43)
*"Art of Life" - X Japan - 1993 (34:08)
*"" - Meat Loaf - 1993 (12:00)
*"High Hopes" - Pink Floyd - 1994 (8:32)
*"A Change of Seasons" - Dream Theater - 1995 (23:09)
*"Ghostship" - Shadow Gallery - 1995 (21:56)
*"Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" - Smashing Pumpkins - 1995 (9:22)
*"Crimson" - Edge of Sanity - 1996 (40:00)
*"Sol Niger Within" - Frederick Thordendal's Special Defects - 1996 (37:15)
*"Eulogy" - Tool - 1996 (8:28)
*"Ænema" - Tool - 1996 (6:39)
*"Black Rose Immortal" - Opeth - 1996 (20:14) Almost all of Opeth's songs are epics.
*"Paranoid Android" - Radiohead - 1997 (6:23)
*"Trial of Tears" - Dream Theater - 1997 (13:07)
*"The Divine Wings of Tragedy" - Symphony X - 1997 (20:41)
*A Pleasant Shade of Gray - Fates Warning - 1997 (55:46)
*"Three Minute Warning" - Liquid Tension Experiment - 1997 (30:00)
*"Stardust We Are" - The Flower Kings - 1997 (25:03)
*"The Coming Curse" - Iced Earth - 1998 (9:33)
*"Garden of Dreams" - The Flower Kings - 1998 (59:23)
*"When The Water Breaks" - Liquid Tension Experiment - 1999 (16:58)
*"Suvannossa ylpeä ilme I-V" - Absoluuttinen Nollapiste - 1999 (20:46)
*"The Decline" - NOFX - 1999 (18:19)
*"Albuquerque" - - 1999 (11:22)
2000s
*"Moviedrome" - Arena - 2000 (19:46)
*"In The Presence Of - Yes - 2001 (10:24)
*"Dreamtime" - Yes - 2001 (10:46)
*"Elizabeth" - Kamelot - 2001 (12:23)
*"Lateralus" - Tool - 2001 (9:24)
*"Parabola" - Tool - 2001 (6:03)
*"Cliffhanger 2" - Shadow Gallery - 2001 (13:05)
*"Light of Day, Day of Darkness" - Green Carnation - 2002 (60:06)
*"The Odyssey" - Symphony X - 2002 (24:14)
*"The Truth Will Set You Free" - The Flower Kings - 2002 (31:01)
*"Devil's Playground" - The Flower Kings - 2002 (25:24)
*"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" - Dream Theater - 2002 (42:00)
*"And Then There Was Silence" - Blind Guardian - 2002 (14:07)
*"Paschendale" - Iron Maiden - 2003 (8:28)
*"Kalifi myy mustaa valoa" - Kuha. - 2003
*"Harvest of Souls" - IQ - 2004 (24:29)
*"Delirium Cordia" - Fantomas - 2004 (74:17)
*"Cassandra Gemini" - The Mars Volta - 2004 (32:27)
*"Cicatriz" - The Mars Volta - 2005 (47:48)
*"The Willing Well II: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness" - Coheed & Cambria - 2004 (7:28)
*"Hearts Alive" - Mastodon - 2004 (13:39)
*"I" - Meshuggah - 2004 (21:00)
*"Catch 33" - Meshuggah - 2005 (47:09)
*"Lochness" - Judas Priest - 2005 (13:28)
*"Jesus of Suburbia" - Green Day - 2005 (9:08)
*"The Mariner's Revenge Song" - The Decemberists - 2005 (8:45)
*"Arriving Somewhere But Not Here - Porcupine Tree - 2005 (12:02)
*"Octavarium" - Dream Theater - 2005 (24:00)
*"Death, Come Near Me" - Draconian - 2005 (15:22)
*"The Tain" - The Decemberists - 2005 (18:35)
*"Wings for Marie (Pt 1)" and "10,000 Days (Wings Pt 2)" - Tool - 2006 (17:25)
*"Knights of Cydonia" - Muse - 2006 (6:06)
*"Operation Ground and Pound" - DragonForce - 2006 (7:45)
*"For the Love of Art and the Making" - Beyond Twilight - 2006 (37:50)
*"Anesthetize" - Porcupine Tree - 2007 (17:42)
*"In the Presence of Enemies" - Dream Theater - 2007 (25:38)
*"Jäästä Syntynyt/Varjojen Virta" - Moonsorrow - 2007 (30:10)
*"Tuleen Ajettu Maa" - Moonsorrow - 2007 (26:19)
*"Blackbird" - Alter Bridge - 2007 (7:58)
*"In the Presence of Enemies" - Dream Theater - 2007 (total time 25:38)
*"The Poet and the Pendulum - Nightwish - 2007 (13:54)
*"Love Is The Only Answer" - The Flower Kings - 2007 (24:28)
*"The Ghost of Tom Joad" (live) - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with Tom Morello - 2008 (5:38)
*"Tulimyrsky" - Moonsorrow - 2008 (29:45)
*"Heathen Foray" - Falkenbach - 2006 (7:15)
*"A Little Piece Of Heaven" - Avenged Sevenfold - 2008 (8:00)
*"Colors" - Between The Buried And Me - 2008 (62:49)
*"Dancers To A Discordant System" - Meshuggah - 2008 (9:36)
*"The Day That Never Comes" - Metallica - 2008 (7:56)
*"All Nightmare Long" - Metallica - 2008 (7:57)

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