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A veritable record guide to progressive rock, with band histories, musical synopses and critical commentary, all presented in the historical context of a timeline. Lucky, Jerry. The Progressive Rock Files Burlington, Ontario: Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc (1998), 304 pages, ISBN 1-896522-10-6 (paperback). Gives an overview of progressive ...
- YES. WE SAY: Pre-eminent in the way prog has developed and grown since their inception in 1968, Yes have always been prepared to modify and alter their approach to suit the times, without sacrificing their overall style.
- Genesis. WE SAY: From their early days, when Peter Gabriel’s theatricality made them both unique and applauded, to the latter times when, with Phil Collins taking over as the frontman, the band became archetypal stadium rockers, Genesis have always been at the forefront of prog.
- Pink Floyd. WE SAY: Not just one of the great prog bands, but among the finest bands of all time in any genre, Pink Floyd, who began their music journey in 1968, enjoyed three different eras.
- King Crimson. WE SAY: Despite numerous line-up changes, and various bouts on hiatus, nobody can doubt the impact King Crimson have made on the music world.
- Aphrodite’s Child
- Tangerine Dream
- Fragile
- Nektar
- Camel
- Kansas
- Spock’s Beard
- Sky
- Babe Ruth
- Premiata Forneria Marconi
Originally a heavy psychedelic band, the Greek band Aphrodite’s Child delivered one of prog rock’s visionary concept albums in the double epic 666, a wild mind trip loosely about a traveling circus show that plays during the apocalypse. Unsurprisingly, famed visual artist Salvador Dali was a huge fan. Aphrodite leader VangelisPapathanassiou had gra...
Along with Kraftwerk, no band did more than Tangerine Dreamto expand the possibilities of the synthesizer. During their heyday they used almost nothing else, and conjured up a remarkable set of soundscapes and atmospheres, improvising freely during live shows.
A modern band with a classic sound, the European-based Fragile worked as a Yes tribute band before they started writing their own material. Their 2022 original release Beyondis close as it gets to a lost Yes album, in the classic mold of a side-long and two half-side tracks. It’s all upped a few notches by the singing of Claire Hamill, whose resume...
Admired by Frank Zappa (who picked them as his opening band in 1973), Nektar expanded the spacier side of early Pink Floyd with a heightened sense of songcraft. Their two peak albums, A Tab in the Ocean and Remember the Future, are as tuneful as they are trippy.
The original Camelwas built around two world-class soloists – guitarist Andy Latimer and the late keyboardist Peter Bardens – and was largely a springboard for their instrumental fireworks. Over time the band became more song-oriented, Bardens departed, and a rotating cast of players came in, including a handful of ex-Caravaners. The one constant i...
Embraced by AOR radio and championed by Don Kirshner, Kansas are often pegged as the commercial side of prog rock. And while there was a lot of heartfelt music on their vintage albums (at least before the original lineup splintered in 1982), they always insisted that the singles success of “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind” were accident...
Reviving classic-model prog rock when it was mostly out of style, Spock’s Beard introduced the talents of Neal Morse, who’d go onto become one of prog’s most prolific and melodically inventive composers (and, eventually, the godfather of Christian-themed prog). The Morse lineup bowed out with its magnum opus, the double epic Snow, but later release...
What do you get when one of the world’s finest classical guitarists decides to form a rock band? You get Sky, which joined the acclaimed John Williams with a lineup including Curved Air’s keyboardist Francis Monkman, and the bassist (Herbie Flowers) who made Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” so indelible. While many prog rockers dabbled in classic...
This early 70s band was unique in a few ways: They had a strong frontwoman, they did prog rock with a strong jazz/blues slant, and their first album cover (First Base) marked the only time Roger Dean ever drew baseball players. Guitarist Alan Shacklock went onto become an 80s producer of note; he and singer Jenny Haan remain in the revived lineup.
This long-running Italian band had a relatively brief, but glorious stint making English-language albums for ELP’s Manticore label. Over those five albums they gradually transformed their gentle pastoral sound into something much harder charging. Their US live album Cook, largely recorded at a Central Park show with ELP, is one of the more explosiv...
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- Happy the Man, ‘Happy the Man’ (1977) Formed in a James Madison University dorm room, Washington, D.C.- based Happy the Man recorded three venerated, mostly instrumental prog albums in the late 1970s, striking a seductive middle ground between sax-driven jazz-fusion lunacy (circa Zappa's One Size Fits All) and synth-heavy meditative twittering.
- Ruins, ‘Hyderomastgroningem’ (1995) Beaming down from the far reaches of the prog-rock galaxy, this Japanese drums and bass duo slam together mathematically improbable meters and dissonant blasts of rhythm with nonsense wails or demonic growls.
- FM, ‘Black Noise’ (1977) Superficially, Toronto-based FM had a lot working against them: Aside from Rush, Canada was never a prog hotbed, and the band released its debut album in 1977, as many of the genre's originators were fading.
- Crack the Sky, ‘Crack the Sky’ (1975) American rockers aren't known for their prog ambitions, and the bands that did push the boundaries usually slipped through the commercial cracks.
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- Pink Floyd. Formed in 1965, Pink Floyd was likely the most famous progressive rock band and even one of the most famous bands in history that has lasted for several decades (with a few breaks in between).
- Rush. With roots in Toronto, Canada, the group Rush formed in 1968, though the group’s members cycled a bit before settling. Rush’s lineup at its height consisted of lead vocalist and bassist Geddy Lee, drummer Neil Peart, and guitarist Alex Lifeson.
- Yes. With a name as simple as Yes, you might expect the same from the band’s music. But Yes’s music is anything but, featuring complex music matched by interesting conceptual themes and stunning visuals.
- King Crimson. If you were surprised by Yes’s long list of band members, get ready for King Crimson, a group that boasts 22 members in different lineups over the years.
Sep 20, 2022 · Rooted in the psychedelic late 60s, prog built up a real head of steam in the early 70s as rock musicians freed themselves of the limitations of four-minute songs and standard time signatures and revelled in the freedom to stretch out a single track over a whole side of vinyl, draw on unlimited musical sources and create music in more complex, and sometimes staggering time signatures.
Dec 18, 2015 · 21 Kate Bush. WE SAY: From her first hit single Wuthering Heights in 1978, Kate Bush has been a stellar, acclaimed performer with a far reaching impact and one of the most influential people in progressive music. Her music combined a phalanx of often cleverly disguised inspirations, plus vulnerability and sensuality.
