Tonight's show is our annual countdown of the best progressive music of 2007. We've got the Top 11 albums of the year, as well as the Tops in other catagories (made-up and otherwise). Always fun, always controversial, we bring you the Best (and worst) of the past 12 months:

ProgRockRecords Best Release of 2007: Dial - Synchronized (track played: Green Knees)

Best Live CD of 2007: The Tangent - Going Off On One (track played: Forsaken Cathedrals)

Best Live DVD of 2007: David Gilmour - Remember That Night (track played: Fat Old Sun)

Worst Kept Secret in Progski: Wojtek Szadkowski is Peter, vocalist of Peter Pan - Days (track played: Flying Over Paradise)

Best Female Vocalist to leave band and return in new band: Anneke van Gierbergen; Agua de Annique - Air (track played: Day After Yesterday)

Trippiest Surprise of 2007; Best MySpace submission of 2007: The Unknownn - Unknownn (track played: Raw)

WTF were they thinking; Worst Album; Worst Song of 2007: Marillion - Somewhere Else (track played: Most Toys)

#11: Knight Area - Under A New Sign (track played: Dreamweaver)
#10: Riverside - Rapid Eye Movement (track played: Beyond The Eyelids)
# 9: The Reasoning - Awakening (track played: Sacred Shape);
Worst Kept Secret; Most highly anticipated return to prog scene by a female vocalist: Rachel Jones joins The Reasoning
# 8: (and Best Prog Cover for 2007): Glass Hammer - Culture Of Ascent (track played: South Side Of The Sky)
# 7: (and Best Psychedelic Album of 2007): The Future Kings Of England - The Fate Of Old Mother Orvis (track played: Mustard Men)
# 6: Blackfield - II (tracks played: 1,000 People, Miss U)
# 5: Mermaid Kiss - Etarlis (track played: The City Of Clouds [Quay-Lin])
Best Female Vocal Performance of 2007 - Evelyn Downing
# 4: (and Best Progski Album of 2007): Quidam - Alone Together (tracks played: Different, Kinds Of Solitude At Night, Depicting Colours Of Emotions)
# 3: Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet (tracks played: My Ashes, Sentimental, Way Out Of Here)
# 2: Antimatter - Leaving Eden (tracks played: Redemption, Another Face In A Window, Leaving Eden, The Immaculate Misconception)
Best Male Vocal Performance of 2007: Mick Moss
# 1: Phideaux - Doomsday Afternoon (tracks played: Micro Softdeathstar, Thank You For The Evil, Microdeath Softstar)
Best Band of 2007: Phideaux
Song of the Year: Thank You For The Evil

Again, our most sincere thanks for your support over the past year. To the artists who provide us with all of this great music, to my brothers-in-arms at ProgRock.com, our great listeners, those who hang with us in Chat and make the time fly by, everyone around the world who downloads and listens to the IO Podcast and tells their friends, and to all fans of progressive music everywhere: thanks for making 2007 such a successful year, and let's all look forward to great and wonderful things in 2008!

EDIT 12/30 - It appears I once again made in error when typing the the name of the file for the podcast feed. My thanks to Alan in the UK for bringing this to my attention. It is now fixed, and you should be able to grab this show via iTunes or however you subscribe to podcasts. Happy New Year All!

JC

Tonight's show features a few obligatory Christmas songs as well as a look back at some of the highlights (for me) of the year 2007. We've also got a premier of another track from the upcoming album from Anathema. Next week, December 26, will be the big annual countdown show.

We've also got a short tribute to Dan Fogelberg, who passed away recently at the age of 56. Dan died of prostate cancer. Since a large portion of our audience is male, we want all of you, especially those of you over the age of 40, to schedule a physical, have the PSA blood test, and get a prostate exam. Prostate cancer is a very preventable, curable, and survivable disease if caught early. Give yourselves the gift of life this holiday season and get tested. Rest in peace Dan!

And with that, tonight's playlist:

Marillion - Seasons End (Live)
Ad Infinitum - A Winters Tale
David Gilmour - Echoes (Live)
Marillion - Gabriel's Message (Live)
Peter Pan - Days
Satellite - Downtown Skyline
TSO - Christmas Eve -- Sarajevo 12/24
Riverside - Parasomnia
Iluzjon - Empty Fall
Quidam - Depicting Colours Of Emotion
ELP - I Believe In Father Christmas
Anathema - Angels Walk Among Us
Antimatter - Ghosts
Phideaux - Crumble (Side 1)
TSO - Christmas Canon
TSO - O Come All Ye Faithful / O Holy Night
The Reasoning - Within Cold Glass
Mermaid Kiss - Walking With Ghosts
Lana Lane - Lazy Summer Day
Agua de Annique - Beautiful One
The Unknownn - Blood
Glass Hammer - South Side Of The Sky
Dan Fogelberg - Part Of The Plan

Tonight's show features new music from two of Poland's very best progressive rock bands: "Into The Night" from Satellite; and "Alone Together", the latest from Quidam.

Quidam - Sanktuarium
Satellite - Into The Night
Satellite - Dreams
Quidam - Different
Quidam - Kinds Of Solitude At Night
Quidam - Depicting Colours Of Emotions
Satellite - Downtown Skyline
Satellite - Lights
Satellite - Don't Walk Away In Silence
Satellite - Heaven Can Wait
Quidam - They Are There To Remind Us
Quidam - Of Illusions
Quidam - We Lost
Satellite - Forgiven And Forgotten
Satellite - Time Stands Still
Satellite - Around The World
Quidam - One Day We Find
Quidam - We Are Alone Together
Quidam - P.S. But Strong Together
Collage - Eight Kisses

Most prog fans are familiar with Satellite due to their Collage roots and connection to Marillion via their Mark Wilkinson album cover artwork. Quidam is probably a different story for many of you, but I've been proud to feature their music from the very beginnings of my webcast. Originally fronted by female vocalist Emila Derkowska, they came back stronger than ever after her departure with male vocalist Bartek Kossowicz and the album "surREVival", an album that saw many a Porcupine Tree comparison, but via the featured flute, still managed to keep their own identity intact. A live DVD and unplugged album followed, and now they are back. "Alone Together" is a strong album, one that should garner them much deserved attention from the prog world, and hopefully an invitation from an American festival promoter.

Tonight we feature the new album "four two" from Fabric (formerly known as Parry:Matthews).

Rocket Scientists - After The Revolution
Glass Hammer - Into Thin Air
The Flower Kings - Love Is The Only Answer
Fabric - Breakout
Fabric - The State I'm In
Fabric - Hold Me Now
Fabric - A Message
Fabric - Way Out
Fish - Circle Line
The Future Kings Of England - Bartholomew's Merman
Galahad - I Could Be God
Fabric - Choking
Fabric - Smiling
Fabric - Rainclouds
Fabric - Aqua
Fabric - Doors
The Gathering - A Noise Severe
The Black Noodle Project - Happy End
Blackfield - End Of The World (Live)