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The progressive rock band Yes performing in 1977
Progressive rock is a broad and convergent style of rock
music and progressive music which arose in the late 1960s, reaching the peak of its popularity in the early 1970s, but continuing as a musical form to this day. Progressive rock is often
closely identified with other styles of music such as experimental music, symphonic rock,
art rock and progressive metal.
Progressive rock artists sought to move away from the limitations of the radio formated rock, mainly its cyclic structure,
favoring a progressive one (hence the term "progressive"). Progressive rock is often perceived as complex and elaborate music,
requiring a high level of musicianship from the artists, mainly because of the impression left by some of the most popular
progressive bands.
Some common, though not necessary, elements of progressive rock include:
- Long pieces, in some cases over 20 minutes in length. These are often described as epics. (An early example is "Echoes" by Pink Floyd). 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, which is only 3 seconds shorter.
- Intricate and lengthy melodies and harmonies, often requiring repeated listening to grasp.
- Solo passages of great speed, subtlety, complexity and/or difficulty, demonstrating the virtuosity of the player.
- 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, Bartok, 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 has 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
Bartok's piano piece "Allegro Barbaro") and "Knife Edge" (an arrangement with
lyrics of Janacek's "Simfonietta", with the Allemande from J. S. Bach's French Suite in D minor serving as the second half
of the lead break).
Although the elements mentioned above are common to progressive rock, none of them can be used to define progressive rock
because they are not specific to it.
Progressive rock very often borrows one of these forms (alone or in combination):
- The form of a piece that is subdivided into subpieces, in the manner of a classical symphony. An example is the four-part
song "Close to the Edge" on the album Close to the Edge
by Yes; another is the seven-part "A Change of Seasons" by Dream Theater.
- 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.
Having emerged as an entity of its own at the close of the 1960s,
progressive rock's popularity peaked in the mid 1970s, when progressive rock 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 describe 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 modified
themselves to some extent, 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 received another minor surge of popularity in the 1990s with a wave of new
bands, many of which played harder-edged music known as progressive
metal. These later bands are usually happy to be unashamedly known as progressive, and produce very long pieces and concept
albums, a resurgence of the 1970s progressive 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 work of contemporary artists such as Radiohead, Sigur Ros 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. Tool has done the same
thing with traces of heavy metal, with some commercial success.
See also
External links
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