Originally Posted by Terrapin_Station

It's not that I'm saying that metal IS progressive rock, by the way. It's that it has progressive rock influences.

Okay, so those influences:

* The song departs from conventional verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus-type structures.

* It's comprised of a number of different sections, almost like a suite of mini-songs, with tempo changes, meter changes, etc.

* The arrangement is very unusual--for example, the way everything but the vocal and hi-hat drop out for the verses.

* It departs from traditional pop song structures harmonically in some very unusual ways. For example, the major second (the (flat) 7th to the root, with the 7th on the downbeat) in the verses, which leads simply to a chromatic walkdown starting at the minor third, with emphasis on the minor second, which functions as a suspension.

I could give you more, but those are just a few quick things.