Progressive rock

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.

History of progressive rock

Precursors

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).

Related Topics:
1960s - Psychedelic - Psychedelic rock - Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Jimi Hendrix

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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.

Related Topics:
The Nice - Moody Blues - Tangerine Dream - The Who - Cream - Led Zeppelin

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All these bands are sometimes considered "early progressive," or as part of a transitional genre between psychedelic and progressive.

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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.

Related Topics:
Genesis - Greg Lake

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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 1960's 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.

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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.

Related Topics:
Italy - France - Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) - Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - Le Orme - Ange - Magma - Krautrock

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Rise and fall

Fans and music historians have a variety of way to categorize the flavors of 1970's 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 also incorporated more unusual instrumental elements, odd time signatures, and long compositions into its work.

Related Topics:
Canterbury scene - Renaissance - Queen - Electric Light Orchestra

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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, including Rush (from Canada), Kansas (from Kansas, of course), and the Dixie Dregs (from Georgia).

Related Topics:
Canada - Kansas - Kansas - Dixie Dregs - Georgia

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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.

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1980s revival

The early 1980s saw something of a revival of the genre, led by artists such as Marillion, IQ, 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. In 1983, Genesis achieved international success with the song "Mama", with its heavy emphasis on a drum machine riff. In 1984, Yes had a surprise number one hit with the song "Owner of a Lonely Heart", which contained contemporary electronic effects and was accessible enough to be played at discos, and more recently has been remixed into a Trance single. Many progressive rock fans were unhappy with the direction taken by such bands during this time.

Related Topics:
1980s - Marillion - Kate Bush - Neo-progressive - 1982 - Asia - 1983 - 1984 - Disco

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It should be noted that the term "progressive" in the early 1970's had been coined to emphasize the newness of these bands, but by the 1980's 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 1970's 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.

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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 Sweden's The Flower Kings, the UK's Porcupine Tree, and Spock's Beard from the United States. 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.

Related Topics:
1990s - Porcupine Tree - Spock's Beard - Alternative rock - The Smashing Pumpkins

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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 http://www.guitarplayer.com/archive/0603/0603_features1.htm.

Related Topics:
Progressive metal - U.S. - Sweden - Tool

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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.

Related Topics:
System of a Down - Goth metal - Europe - Finland - Nightwish

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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. Among more experimental and avant garde musicians, the Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu publicly cites progressive rock bands as a prime influence on his work.

Related Topics:
Ween - Post-rock - Sigur Rós - Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Radiohead - Muse - Punk rock - The Mars Volta - Japanese - Composer - Takashi Yoshimatsu

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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, Dolour, Mastodon, Ruby Doe, Turn to Fall, The Decemberists, The Arcade Fire, Vendetta Red, and Vindaloo.

Related Topics:
Mostly Autumn - The Mars Volta - The Blood Brothers - Coheed and Cambria - Mastodon - Turn to Fall - The Decemberists - The Arcade Fire

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