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Progressive rock (shortened to prog, or prog rock when differentiating from other "progressive" genres) is an ambitious, eclectic, and often grandiose style of rock music which arose in the late 1960s, reached the peak of its popularity in the early 1970s, and continues as a musical form to this day. Progressive rock began in England and remained largely a European movement, although there are a few notable American and Canadian progressive rock bands. This music style draws many influences from classical music and jazz fusion, in contrast to American rock, which was more influenced by rhythm & blues and country. Over the years various sub-genres of progressive rock have emerged, such as symphonic rock, art rock, math rock and progressive metal.
Progressive rock artists sought to move away from the limitations of popular rock and pop music formats, and "progress" rock to the point that it could achieve new forms, often but not always alluding to the sophistication of jazz or classical music. It is complexity, not the virtuosity of the musicians, which most distinguishes progressive rock: mainstream rock has some extremely talented musicians who work solely in simple meters and harmonies.
Progressive rock is difficult to define in a single conclusive way, and outspoken King Crimson leader Robert Fripp has voiced his disdain for the term. The major acts that defined the genre in the 1970s (in no particular order, Jethro Tull, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Rush, Gentle Giant and King Crimson) do not sound especially alike. Indeed, in some cases the bands themselves and/or well-known commentators such as Bill Martin (author of Listening to the Future - see Further Reading) would question whether one or another of these bands are really progressive rock bands at all. (This article shall assume that they are, or at least, that they were in the 1970s.) There is also debate on whether the musical output of artists and bands as varied as Frank Zappa, Deep Purple, Phish, Radiohead, and Tool belongs to the genre.
Characteristics of progressive rock
There is probably no single element that is shared by all music that has been considered to be progressive rock. Still, there are certainly noticeable trends; these common, though not universal, features are:
- Long compositions, sometimes running over 20 minutes, with intricate melodies and harmonies. These are often described as epics and are the genre's clearest nod to classical music. A very early example (perhaps the first multi-part suite to appear in prog rock) is "In Held Twas In I" by Procol Harum, clocking in at 17:30. Other famous examples include Rush's 20-minute "2112," Genesis' 23-minute "Supper's Ready" and Jethro Tull's 43-minute Thick as a Brick, and Yes' Tales From Topographic Oceans, a double-album that contains only four songs. More recent extreme examples include the 60-minute "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" by Green Carnation, and the 42-minute "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" by Dream Theater.
- Related to and overlapping with these lengthy compositions, many progressive rock songs are made up of shorter parts (often, but not always, explicitly called out on the track list of the album on which they appear) that in some cases could be songs in their own right. Often, pieces are divided into movements in the manner of classical suites. For example, Yes' "Close to the Edge" is divided into four parts, Rush's "Hemispheres" into seven, Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" into nine. Yes' single "Soon" is actually a five-minute excerpt from "The Gates of Delirium," which is over 20 minutes long; similarly, parts of Jethro Tull's aforementioned Thick as a Brick have appeared as songs in their own right on various compilations. ELP's "Karn Evil 9" has a six minute section often featured on radio, entitled "Karn Evil 9: First Impression (Part II)." "A Pleasant Shade of Gray" by Fates Warning was divided into 12 separate tracks at the behest of their record label.
- Lyrics that convey intricate and sometimes impenetrable narratives, covering such themes as science fiction, fantasy, history, religion, war, and madness. Progressive rock songs are rarely about love or sex and practically never about other staple subjects of popular music, such as dancing or cars. Normally, when these "pop" subjects are touched upon, they are portrayed on a vivid level. Rush's "Red Barchetta" and "Jacob's Ladder" are two examples of vivid descriptions of popular topics (car racing and the sky respectively). Another exception is ELP's "Brain Salad Surgery," which is a slang term for fellatio. Most progressive rock bands have also avoided direct political commentary, preferring to couch their views in fictional or allegorical settings — for example, Genesis' album Selling England by the Pound is tied together by a theme of commercialism versus naturalism, while Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery gradually progresses from nature to technology to illustrate the dangers of man being replaced by machine. The bands of the Rock in Opposition movement, often regarded as progressive rock acts, are a notable exception, as their work often featured very direct political commentary. Rush, however, has had songs describing and commenting on communist situations (negatively) ("Red Lenses," and "Heresy" [about the downfall of Communism]).
- Prominent use of instruments unusual in rock music, including electronic instrumentation. Perhaps the most famous example is the extensive use of the flute by Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson. Keyboard instruments including the synthesizer, organ, piano, Mini Moog, and Mellotron are very common in progressive rock, much less so (though by no means unheard-of) in other rock genres. Other examples include the use of nonwestern instruments, particularly ethnic percussion. Examples of this include ELP's "Karn Evil 9," which had a synthesized steel drum piece, and Rush's "Tai Shan," which featured pan flute. Progressive rock bands have also experimented with technology such as waveform manipulation and editing with personal computer software, as well as utilizing hardware-based technology like wave sequencing and VariPhrase, as found on legendary Korg and Roland instruments, respectively.
- Perhaps surprisingly, in the progressive heyday, the use of outright orchestras and choirs was quite rare among the most well-known progressive rock bands; the most famous examples from the late 60s and early 70s are probably the title suite from Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother and Yes' second album Time and a Word, both of which predate those bands' most successful, and arguably most progressive, period. Electric Light Orchestra is an exception to this; the progressive group was literally a mini orchestra, as one can see on songs like "Fire on High" and "Evil Woman." More usually, the aforementioned Mellotron was used to simulate strings or a choir. Less well-known bands such as Renaissance did make extensive use of an actual orchestra. Such instrumental choices, particularly the use of orchestras, have become much more common in recent progressive rock.
- Related to this is the prominence of multi-instrumentalists such as Mike Oldfield, Ian Anderson, Geddy Lee, Greg Lake, and Neal Morse.
- Use of unusual time signatures, scales, or tunings. Many pieces use multiple time signatures and/or tempi, sometimes concurrently (King Crimson's "Thela Hun Ginjeet", for example, contains passages in which some band members play in 7/8 and others in 4/4 to create an "off-balance" effect).
- An extremely wide dynamic range, with very quiet and very loud passages often occurring in the same piece of music. Use of compression to reduce this effect is much less common than in other forms of rock music. This is characteristic of music that is meant to be listened to relatively closely and for its own sake, as opposed to relatively casually or as background noise.
- A coordination within the rhythm section of the band (typically consisting of the bassist and the drummer). The rhythm section may use countertempos and other techniques that contrast what the rest of the band is doing in conjunction. Notable examples include Chris Squire and Bill Bruford of Yes and later King Crimson or Tony Levin. Geddy Lee and Neil Peart from Rush also used this concept, primarily during the 1980s.
- Inclusion of classical pieces on albums. For example, Emerson, Lake and Palmer have performed arrangements of pieces by Copland, Bartók, Moussorgsky and others, and often feature quotes from J. S. Bach in lead breaks. Sometimes these pieces are significantly reinterpreted; Jethro Tull recorded a version of a Bourrée by Bach in which they turned the piece into a "sleazy jazzy night-club song" (in Ian Anderson's own words).
- An aesthetic linking the music with visual art, a trend started by The Beatles with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and enthusiastically embraced during the prog heyday. Some bands became as well-known for the art direction of their albums as for their sound, with the "look" integrated into the band's overall musical identity. This led to fame for particular artists and design studios, most notably Roger Dean for his work with Yes and Storm Thorgerson and his studio Hipgnosis for their work with Pink Floyd and others. H.R. Giger's painting for Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery is one of the most famous album sleeves ever produced; according to the liner notes, it originally featured a phallic object beneath a lady's mouth to emphasize the said title, which was a slang term for fellatio. The object was later air brushed out.
- The use of sound effects in compositions. This is a particular trademark of Pink Floyd with examples including the entirety of "Speak to Me", the opening track from Dark Side of the Moon, but other bands did this too; for example, sounds of warfare can be heard throughout Jethro Tull's single "Warchild," and the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" is one of the earliest examples.
- Exchanging of members. Like jazz ensembles, members of progressive rock bands often move between bands and create side projects. For instance, Steve Howe of Yes and Steve Hackett of Genesis recorded an album under the name GTR (for "guitar"). Drummer Bill Bruford has worked with Yes, Genesis, King Crimson. In the 1990s, a touring version of Yes that included almost everyone who had ever been a member included two full lineups who played in various combinations "in the round" during concerts. Still more recently, Dream Theater side projects have come to outnumber the band's own albums, involving nearly every current and former member of the band working with a bewildering variety of members of other recent prog bands. Also, bands like Electric Light Orchestra and Jethro Tull replaced members often.
History of progressive rock
Precursors
Progressive rock band King Crimson performing on Top of The Pops, 1970.
Progressive rock was born from a variety of musical influences in the late 1960s. The later Beatles and many psychedelic bands began to combine traditional rock music with instruments from classical and Eastern music. Psychedelic rock continued this experimental trend and began to compose very long pieces, although usually without any carefully thought-out structure (for example, Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" or "1983...(A Merman Should I Turn to Be)" by Jimi Hendrix).
Bands such as The Nice and the Moody Blues began deliberately combining rock music with classical music, producing longer pieces with deliberate structures. German electronic music pioneers Tangerine Dream introduced a variety of synthesisers, tape effects, and other unusual sounds in their compositions, usually in purely instrumental albums. By the mid- to late-'60s, The Who had also created concept albums and rock operas, as well as long live rock song performances — although those were often in the more blues-based improvisational style also featured by contemporaries Cream and Led Zeppelin.
All these bands are sometimes considered "early progressive," or as part of a transitional genre between psychedelic and progressive.
First progressive rock acts
Many music historians point to King Crimson as the first "true" progressive rock band; their first appearance was in February 1969. They were quickly followed by other English progressive rock bands, including Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and Jethro Tull. It is worth noting that aside from ELP these bands began their careers before King Crimson, and changed their musical styles considerably following the release of "In the Court of the Crimson King"; and as for Emerson Lake and Palmer, they inherited their singer and bassist, Greg Lake, from the original King Crimson lineup.
Progressive rock also gained momentum when many rock fans grew disillusioned with the "Peace and Love" movement. Progressive rock often distanced itself from the "smiles and sunshine" of 1960s pop music and moved towards darker and sometimes more violent themes. For example, Genesis' Trespass includes "The Knife", about a violent demagogue, and "Stagnation", about a survivor of a nuclear attack.
Progressive rock was especially popular in continental Europe. Indeed, progressive rock was the first form of rock that actually captivated countries such as Italy and France. This era saw a great number of European progressive rock bands, most notably Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM), Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, and Le Orme from Italy, and Ange and Magma from France. Of these bands, only PFM was significantly successful in the English-speaking world. Germany also had a significant progressive movement, often refered to as Krautrock. Many of the Italian bands scored appalling success in their life (most of them produced only one album) but now CDs of otherwise unknown groups like Museo Rosenbach, Osanna, Il Balletto di Bronzo, Semiramis etc., along with the more renowned ones, are incresingly sought by fans as true classics of the genre, and also attracting the interests of higher musical critic.
Rise and fall
Fans and music historians have a variety of way to categorize the flavors of 1970s progressive rock. The Canterbury scene can be considered a sub-genre of progressive rock, or simply another collection of true progressive rock bands. Other bands took the genre in a more commercial direction; these bands, including Renaissance, Queen and Electric Light Orchestra are sometimes classified as "progressive rock", "commercial rock", or "symphonic pop." Over time, Led Zeppelin and Supertramp, among others, also incorporated more unusual instrumental elements, odd time signatures, and long compositions into their work.
Pink Floyd in Pompeii, Italy. October 1971.
Progressive rock's popularity peaked in the mid-1970s, when prog artists regularly topped readers' votes in mainstream popular music magazines in England and America. By this time, several New World progressive rock bands had been formed. Kansas, which had actually existed in one form or another since 1971, became one of the most commercially successful of all progressive rock bands; Toronto's Rush were equally successful, with a string of hit albums extending from the mid-1970s to the present (though little of their recent work falls into the progressive rock category). Less commercially successful, but at least as influential as either band, were the Dixie Dregs, from Georgia.
With the advent of punk rock in the late 1970s, popular and critical opinion in England and America moved toward a simpler and more aggressive style of rock, with progressive rock increasingly dismissed as pretentious and overblown. This attitude has remained common to the present day, though it has begun to diminish since about 2004.
1980s revival
The early 1980s saw something of a revival of the genre, led by innovative artists such as Marillion, IQ, Galahad, Saga, and Kate Bush. Groups that arose during this time are sometimes termed neo-progressive. Around the same time, some progressive rock stalwarts changed musical direction, simplifying their music and including more obviously electronic elements.
In 1982, the much anticipated supergroup Asia, composed of Steve Howe (Yes), Carl Palmer (ELP), John Wetton (King Crimson), and Geoff Downes (Yes), surprised (and disappointed) with their pop-oriented debut album. Top 5 single "Heat of the Moment" rotated heavily on MTV for years, while the first Asia album established a sales record for 1982. This demonstrated a market for more commercialized British progressive rock -- incidentally, the same style purveyed by American Top-40 stalwarts such as Styx and Journey for several years.
Other British bands followed Asia's lucrative example. In 1983, Genesis achieved some international success "Mama", a song with heavy emphasis on a drum machine riff. This signalled a very commercial direction during the 1980s. In 1984, Yes also had a surprise comeback with 90125, featuring their only number one single, "Owner of a Lonely Heart." Written by guitarist Trevor Rabin prior to joining Yes, "Owner" was accessible enough to be played at discos, and more recently has been remixed into a trance single. Often sampled by hip-hop artists, "Owner" also incorporated contemporary electronic effects, courtesy of producer/ex-member Trevor Horn.
Many progressive rock fans were unhappy with the direction taken by these bands, but others simply accepted the changes and enjoyed the music. Yes, for instance, enjoyed a brief renaissance during the 1980s with a mixture of old and new fans. Moreover, other progressive rock bands like Rush arguably released some of their best material during the early & mid-1980s, due to a merge of new wave and early progressive sounds.
Third wave and prog metal
The progressive rock genre enjoyed another revival in the 1990s with the so-called "Third Wave", spearheaded by such bands as Poland's Collage (later to be formed into Satellite), Sweden's The Flower Kings, the UK's Porcupine Tree, Arena, Magenta and Pendragon, and Spock's Beard and Glass Hammer from the United States. Arjen Lucassen, with the backing of an array of talent from the progressive rock genre, produced a series of innovative concept albums. One of the most important bands of the alternative rock movement, The Smashing Pumpkins, incorporated progressive rock into their unique, eclectic style, going so far as to release two albums dealing with the same concept.
In recent years, the most commercially viable category of prog has been progressive metal. These bands are usually happy to be known as progressive, although the music bears very little resemblance to the original progressive rock form, and produce very long pieces and concept albums. Several of the leading bands in the prog-metal genre (particularly Dream Theater (U.S.) and Opeth (Sweden)) cite pioneer progressive hard-rockers Rush as a prime influence, although their music shows more influence from bands such as Yes or Metallica. Tool have cited pioneers King Crimson as an influence on their work. King Crimson opened for Tool on their 2002 tour, and expressed admiration for Tool while denying the "prog" label [1].
Meanwhile, other heavy metal bands not generally considered prog-metal, such as System of a Down, have nevertheless incorporated prog-influenced elements like bizarre shifts in time signatures and tempo in their music. In recent years, a number of heavily classical-influenced goth metal bands have emerged in Europe, most notably Finland's Nightwish; though they probably do not think of themselves as progressive metal bands, fans of the genre often consider them to be such and indeed, several could claim at least as many of the "Characteristics of Progressive Rock" listed above as bands like Dream Theater.
It should be noted that the term "progressive" in the early 1970s had been coined to emphasize the newness of these bands, but by the 1980s the term had become the name of a specific musical style. As a result, bands such as King Crimson which continued to update their sound were not always called "progressive", while some newer self-described "prog" bands purchased vintage mellotrons in order to recreate the sound of early 1970s prog. Fans and hostile critics alike had established "progressive rock" as the permanent name of this genre, and so the connection to the usual meaning of "progressive" became irrelevant.
Swedish prog rock revivalists The Flower Kings.
Influences
The work of contemporary artists such as Ween, post-rock bands like Sigur Rós, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and alternative groups like Radiohead and Muse could be said to incorporate some of the experimental elements of progressive rock, sometimes combined with the aesthetic sensibilities of punk rock to produce music which many find challenging, innovative and imaginative. A better example of a contemporary progressive band however is probably The Mars Volta, who are notable for intentionally fusing punk with progressive rock, two elements once polar opposites. The cult English band Cardiacs has specialised since 1980 in a kind of progressive punk sound which has influenced a slew of other bands who are occasionally described (with tongue-in-cheek) as pronk acts. Among more experimental and avant garde musicians, the Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu publicly cites progressive rock bands as a prime influence on his work.
There are also a number of contemporary prog bands, such as Mostly Autumn that combine Celtic, and sometimes pagan, influences with earlier prog rock styles. Other bands of note incorporating progressive rock into their sound, both signed and unsigned, include The Mars Volta, the Blood Brothers, Dog Bone Sanctuary, Coheed and Cambria, The Fall of Troy, Dolour, Mastodon, Ruby Doe, Turn to Fall, The Decemberists, The Arcade Fire, Vendetta Red, and Vindaloo.
See also
External links
Further reading
- Lucky, Jerry. The Progressive Rock Files Burlington, Ontario: Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc (1998), 304 pages, ISBN 1896522106 (paperback). Gives an overview of progressive rock's history as well as histories of the major and underground bands in the genre.
- Macan, Edward. Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1997), 290 pages, ISBN 00195098870 (hardcover), ISBN 00195098889 (paperback). Analyzes progressive rock using classical musicology and also sociology.
- Martin, Bill. Listening to the Future: The Time of Progressive Rock. Peru, Ill.: Carus Publishing Company (1998), 356 pages, ISBN 081269368X (paperback). An enthusiastic analysis of progressive rock, intermixed with the author's Marxist political views.
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