Progressive rock

Progressive rock is an ambitious, eclectic, and often grandiose style of rock music which arose in the late 1960s principally in England, reaching the peak of its popularity in the early 1970s, but continuing as a musical form to this day. Progressive rock was largely a European movement, and drew most of its influences from classical music and jazz fusion, in contrast to American rock, which was historically influenced by rhythm & blues and country. Over the years various sub-genres of progressive rock--or "prog"--have emerged, such as symphonic rock, art rock and progressive metal.

Progressive rock artists sought to move away from the limitations of radio formatted rock and pop, and "progress" rock to the point that it could achieve the musical sophistication of jazz or classical. Progressive rock is admired by its fans for its complexity, requiring a high level of musical virtuosity to perform. Critics have often derided the genre as pompous and self-indulgent. This is because, unlike such stylistically consistent genres as country or hip hop, progressive rock is difficult to define in a single conclusive way. Outspoken King Crimson leader Robert Fripp has openly voiced his disdain for the term. Very few bands commonly known as progressive rock bands (Yes, Genesis, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Rush and King Crimson, to name the usual suspects) could be said to sound anything alike. By the same token, a number of bands generally considered mainstream or, today, classic rock bands as opposed to progressive bands undeniably played the kinds of songs associated with prog — long, elaborate, experimental and virtuosic. (e.g.: David Bowie's 10-minute "Station to Station".) Even The Beatles would have to be included in this.

Some common, though not universal, elements of progressive rock include:

Long compositions, sometimes running over 20 minutes, with intricate melodies and harmonies that require repeated listening to grasp. These are often described as epics and are the genre's clearest nod to classical music. An early example is the 23-minute "Echoes" by Pink Floyd. Other famous examples include Yes' "Close to the Edge" (18 minutes) and Genesis' "Supper's Ready" (23 minutes). More recent extreme examples are the 60-minute "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" by Green Carnation and "Garden of Dreams" by The Flower Kings, running about 64 minutes (though broken up into 18 sections).

Lyrics that convey intricate and sometimes impenetrable narratives, covering such themes as science fiction, fantasy, religion, war, love, madness and history.

Concept albums, in which a theme or storyline is explored throughout an entire album in a manner similar to a film or a play. In the days of vinyl, these were usually two-record sets with strikingly designed gatefold sleeves. Famous examples include The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis; Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes; Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall by Pink Floyd; and the more recent Snow by Spock's Beard.

Unusual vocal styles and use of multi-part vocal harmonies. See Magma, Robert Wyatt, and Gentle Giant.

Prominent use of electronic instrumentation—particularly keyboard instruments such as the organ, piano, Mellotron, and Moog synthesizer, in addition to the usual rock combination of electric guitar, bass and drums.

Use of syncopation, unusual time signatures, scales or tunings. Some pieces use multiple time signatures and/or tempos, sometimes overlaid. King Crimson often combined several of these elements in the same song. Many of Rush's favorites are partly or wholly in 7/8 meter. Dream Theater's fiendishly difficult to play "Dance of Eternity" features changes of time signature in a sequence 5/8-5/8-7/8, 5/8-7/8, 5/8-5/8-7/8.

Solo passages for virtually every instrument, expressly designed to showcase the virtuosity of the player. This is the sort of thing that contributed to the fame of such performers as keyboardist Rick Wakeman and drummer Neil Peart.

Inclusion of classical pieces on albums. For example, Yes start their concerts with a taped extract of Stravinsky's Firebird suite, and Emerson Lake and Palmer have performed arrangements of pieces by Copland, Bartók, Moussorgsky, Prokofiev, Janacek, Alberto Ginastera, and often interpolate extensive quotes from J. S. Bach in lead breaks. Marillion once started concerts with Rossini's La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie), and named their third live album the same. Symphony X has included parts by, or inspired by, Beethoven, Holst and Mozart. Emerson Lake and Palmer have even gone as far as interpreting classical pieces: Pictures at an Exhibition is the prime example, being a Mussorgsky composition to which lyrics were added. Other examples are "The Barbarian" (an arrangement of Bartók's piano piece "Allegro Barbaro") and "Knife Edge" (an arrangement with lyrics of Janacek's Sinfonietta, with the Allemande from J. S. Bach's French Suite in D minor serving as the second half of the lead break).

Progressive rock compositions often follow:

The form of a piece that is subdivided into subpieces in the manner of a classical suite. An example is the four-part song "Close to the Edge" on the album of the same name by Yes; another is the seven-part "A Change of Seasons" by Dream Theater.

The form of a piece that is composed of two or more pieces in the manner of a patchwork. Good examples are the multi-part song "Supper's Ready" on Foxtrot by Genesis or the song "A Day in the Life" on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. More recently, this can be seen in the song "Paranoid Android" on OK Computer by Radiohead.

The form of a piece that allows the development of musical ideas via progressions or variations in the manner of a bolero or a canon. "King Kong" on Frank Zappa's Uncle Meat illustrates this well.

Progressive rock's popularity peaked in the mid-1970s, when prog artists regularly topped readers' votes in mainstream popular music magazines. With the advent of punk rock in the late 1970s, and its earlier precursor pub rock, popular and critical opinion moved toward a simpler and more aggressive style of rock, with the words "pretentious", "pompous", and "overblown" often being used to dismiss progressive rock. This attitude has remained in place to the present day, particularly among mainstream music writers.

The early 1980s saw something of a revival of the genre, led by groups such as Marillion. Groups that arose during this time are sometimes labelled neo-progressive. At the same time, some progressive rock stalwarts changed musical direction with the times, simplifying their music and including more obviously electronic elements. 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 modern (for the time) electronic effects and was accessible enough to be played at discos.

The genre enjoyed another minor 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 USA. 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, and produce very long pieces and concept albums, a resurgence of the 1970s prog ethic. Several of the leading bands in the prog-metal genre (particularly Dream Theater) cite pioneer progressive hard rockers Rush as a prime influence. The most well-known progressive metal band is Tool, who enjoyed mainstream popularity in the 90's and 00's. Meanwhile, other heavy metal bands not considered prog-metal, such as System of a Down, have been incorporating such prog-influenced elements in their music as bizarre shifts in time signatures and tempo.

The work of contemporary artists such as Radiohead and post-rock bands like Sigur Rós and Godspeed! You Black Emperor could be said to incorporate some of the more experimental elements of progressive rock, sometimes combined with the aesthetic sensibilities of punk rock, to produce music which many find at once challenging, innovative and imaginative. The Mars Volta is 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.

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