What Is Progressive Rock? (And Why Do All the Coolest People Like It?)
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- čas přidán 24. 09. 2021
- WHAT IS PROGRESSIVE ROCK?
Well, in this video essay I tackle this MOST important of subjects: the history of prog. I talk about all the classic prog bands from Jethro Tull, to Yes, Rush and ELP, and analyse what distinguishes this genre from other similar genres.
Why is it different from art rock and jazz fusion?
In fact, IS IT different? Who knows! Well, YOU will once you've listened to this.
Check out this playlist of prog rock if you're new to the genre open.spotify.com/playlist/1G6...
And please like and subscribe!
#progrock #yes #70smusic #guitar - Hudba
You’ve got an insane level of quality for a youtube channel with only ~300 subscribers. Keep going man.
Wow! Thanks so much for the kind comment 😊
Much appreciated - don't forget to check out all my other videos 😉 and there are plenty more on the way!
@@bigyellowpraxis I can only speak from my own perspective and everyone is different but I found it easier to listen to at 1.25 speed. People may be more likely to hang around if the tempo of the vids was a little faster. Just my tuppence...
Prog never died, it simply progressed.
At 69 1/2 years old I was there buying albums when prog rock coalesced. Up till the mid 1960's (pop, rock, soul, western, country) music was 2 to 3 minutes long because that was all a 45/78 (rpm) "single" record could hold. Then the super groups (Yardbirds, Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Blind Faith, Traffic, Chicago, Moody Blues, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeplin...) started writing whole albums of great songs many 6,7,8...17 min long songs that would never be "singles" or had to be edited to be a "single". Then came themed albums or album sides with songs with movements which I consider to be the beginning of prog rock. The two I consider to be the 1st prog rock albums are: The Moody Blues-Days of Future Passed (1967, with an Orchestra!!) and Iron Butterfly-In A Godda Da Vida (17 min) with guitar that hint at King Crimson, Keyboards (synthesizers didn't exist yet) that hint at ELP/Yes/Wakeman and a 2 1/2 minute drum solo that hints of...... well hard rock (not exactly prog); but a damn good drum solo anyway. Check them out and form your own opinion.
I was gonna mention Zappa. And I agree he was a genre all of his own. He may well be a contender for a creator of Prog although he was certainly never full-on Prog. But as a musical hero of mine I'd give him his place.
Yeah Zappa's his own thing entirely haha!
Thanks for watching! :)
200 Motels!!!!
Lumpy Gravy @@ygursivad9921
I like the Robert Fripp definition the best, who said that prog is not a genre, but an attitude, a type of rock music motivated by an urge to innovate, experiment and blaze new trails. By this definition, of course Zappa is prog, as are numerous Italian, French, German, Benelux musicians who didn't rub shoulders with the likes of Genesis and Yes, but followed the same philosophy.
wow. that's not what it sounds like to those outside of prog. the past 50 years of musical innovation has been thru things hip-hop and dance music using technology to enhance and distort vocals, develop an array of non-instrument sounds in songs, and to heavily sample. prog seems very focused on instrument playing, not innovation.
Take a look at those bands in the outskirts of prog, like Alan Parsons Project, ELO, Camel, Saga, Barckay James Harvest, Supertramp...
Excellent and very enjoyable video about a major favorite genre of mine. You really know your stuff. I was just bummed that you left out one of the biggest, best, and most important proggers of the mid 70s - Rush. (Aside from showing the cover of 2112 later). Major major players.
Can't wait to watch more of your videos!
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed the video. But yeah, I unfortunately ran out of time to talk about everyone haha.
Hope you enjoy watching my other stuff. There are plenty more to come too!
I noted that omission, I feel Rush are important because they link with the Sabbath part of the "unholy trinity".
While Rainbow arguably progressed Purple.
The Zeppelin/Tull folk style is less popular, though some rock blending bag pipes would suit prog, if only formats allowed long complex composition.
That sight gag with The WHO was terrific.
Haha thanks! Glad you liked it 😁
And using the 12th Doctor as Bob Dylan.
Wobbler is a recent prog rock band ive been really enjoying, merry macabre is a good starting point to them imo
Talked to who im pretty sure is the drummer on reddit, cool dude.
Van der Graaf Generator, a really underrated prog band
Indeed they are! Possibly my favourite
I got into a prog band in Seattle... Specter by saying I knew vandergraf generator. I also lied by saying I played bass. I play classical guitar.
The one thing i really like about prog Is How "flexible" It Is, i consider anything from Bent Knee, to Can and Yes and Massive attack as prog, but that's just me
Massive Attack popped into my head about halfway through this video. I don't recall ever hearing them mentioned in prog conversations. Is it the ties to hip hop and the trip hop label? Prog rock being a very common term, are they progressive hip hop? Lol
Very funny!
I always liked the softer side of classic prog (well, in addition to favourites King Crimson and Peter Hammill/VdG), so would also throw recommendations for Norwegian band Popol Ace and Irish Fruupp into the ring
Thanks for watching!
Yes I like a lot of that softer side. Although I'm definitely a big VdGG fan!
I've heard of those bands but never listened loads. I'll give them a go. Thanks!
Nice work!
I definitely would recommend anything by Renaissance for anyone who wants a more folk directed prog band.
Renaissance are great! Good recommendation
And thanks for watching! :)
Definitely
Renaissance are a classically inspired symphonic prog band, they aren't even really folk prog. There's a lot more prog bands with stronger folk elements, Jethro Tull being the one that instantly comes to mind.
@thecandlemaker1329 Although there are folk elements in their music, I would agree that they're far more classically influenced. As a fan of classical music, I find their music some of the most enjoyable in the genre.
The first four or five albums by The Enid - beginning with In the Region of the Summer Stars - and a few thereafter.
A couple of songs from the late 60's that kind of led the way to Prog are "MacArthur Park" and "Classical Gas".
The toughest and darkest old school prog act was Van Der Graaf Generator. A revolting flower that opened up for some but not for all. Lighthouse Keepers will know what I'm talking about....
The Moody Blues 'Days of Future Passed', 1967, is probably the first Prog. Rock album, rather that 'In the Court of the Crimson King', which it predates by two years.
Honestly, I just don't particularly like the Moody Blues, and think that album isn't great. I can see how it could be seen as the first prog album, but I don't particularly agree
@@bigyellowpraxis All I can say is that I'm 70 next month and was there at the start of Prog. Rock and I have always regarded the Moody Blues as a Prog. Rock band at least for the period covered by their albums from 'Days of Future Passed' to 'Seventh Sojourn'. Personally I don't like Van Der Graaf Generator, but my lack of appreciation doesn't mean they're not a Prog. Rock band. We can't all like the same stuff, I guess, which is fine.
The tech improved a bit pushed by Keith Emerson of ELP and Mr. Moog. Keith continued to experiment. It would take a lifetime to investigate his continual experimentations in music. Others were in exhaustive too. Hundreds of them attributed to this ‘genre’ but many including ELP tried to disassociate themselves with any category.
Nerd prog rockers be praised. I recommend Bacamarte - Depois Do Fim, superb brazillian prog album.
Prog is definitely a thing itself, but it's also a huge influence on other genres. There are a lot of acts that have those one or two songs that might qualify as prog, where they stretch out and experiment rhythmically and harmonically (and lyrically)--in obvious efforts to express themselves and to bring their audiences along. There are also a number of acts that might not truly qualify as prog, but for whom their entire catalog is prog-adjacent.
It's made music better.
Power and the Glory by Gentile Giant
Gentle Giant was a major omission, IMO.
Miles Davis praise results in an automatic sub 🔥🙏
Great video!
Thanks so much! Glad you liked the video :)
Right on. Thanks for sharing.
Great video man. I would love to hear you talk about the evolution of prog rock into the 90s and up to the modern day. Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much! Cheers for watching, glad you enjoyed. Maybe I'll get to that one day :)
I saw what you did there! Dewey rules!❤️
Well done!!!
Would love to hear you talk more about caravan! Was glad to hear you mention them
This helped me a lot! I have to research a few music genres that are a bit similar, so this helps a lot!
Pretentious, pompous,... Pretty great, isn’t it?! Greetings from Illinois!
Well put! :D
I don't think you mentioned it, but Camel are great! Mirage is maybe their best album in my opinion (though I haven't heard it all)
I didn't mention them, but I'm definitely a dan. The Snow Goose is my favourite album by them, but I think they had a good run of 6 albums or so that I really like
i have to do a presentation about prog and you just helped me so much
First Crimson album changed my direction of playing guitar as a kid. I'm known as a prog fusion artist thanks to Fripp and Howe. I've played shows with Almost all of my childhood prog rock heros. ❤🎸🎼🎶
I like your statement on genres being fluid and unable to be distinctly categorized. I'm not entirely sure what you meant when referring to bands/artists as coming from a different cultural perspective and therefore not being clear-cut prog (i.e. Frank Zappa). Overall, fantastic video. This definitely deserves more views :)
Thanks for watching! I just meant (and I didn't make this entirely clear!) that prog is also kind of a 'scene', and that Zappa was never really part of it. He was always in his own world, doing his own thing, whereas as other (mostly British) prog bands shared similar circles
And thos non-British prog bands that weren't in the same circles, and not directly part of that immediate scene, at least saw themselves as continuing or working within that tradition
Zappa definitely did not! (But still shared a lot of in common)
Great Analysis!
Thanks! :)
Spot on!
Originally was shocked when Rush wasn't mentioned for proggy metal, but later there appeared the 2112 graphic!!
Was fun listening, I love the "pretentious hippy virtuoso shit" of the mighty prog. Your talk definitely captures the essential quality of it, I'd say it was the desire to continue experimenting and pushing the boundaries of the journey sparked off in the psychedelia pop era. A huge difference was the album ruled, not the single, the concept album concept mattered.
Thanks for an enjoyable listen despite not featuring music 😁😁
doing a music production project on prog, thanks for info , ill probably come back again
Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching. Just remember that this video just represents my views - I sure there are people out there who do not agree with me! Good luck with the project 👍
I may be biased because I'm italian but Italian prog rock was the best. Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco del Mutuo Soccordo, il Balletto di Bronzo and Le Orme were crazy good. They are the best when it comes to go crazy on the hammond
I don't 'think' anyone has mentioned Focus yet, so I will.
I 98% Agree with everything in this video! There are two things I would disagree with:
1: Late 60s Prog definitely needs more recognition for its role in kicking off Prog. The Nice, Procol Harum, and Caravan are definitely Progressive Rock bands that had all the traits of early 70s Prog under their belts before King Crimson. Crimson were simply the band that popularised the style among many listeners in Britain. Though you are correct that it's a bit difficult to pinpoint where the first real Prog album was, and I'd attribute that to the blur between Psychedelic and Progressive Music. I've often considered Progressive Music to be synonymous to Post-Psychedelic, particularly in the 60s and 70s, whereas the more stadium Prog bands that came later like Queen, Rush, Kansas, and Camel were more of a 2nd wave of Prog that was completely disconnected from Psychedelic. But both genres, Psychedelic and Progressive, had the mindset of writing more experimental ideas in order to create a powerful force from the music. They went in different directions at the end of the road, but the path was mostly the same.
2: I think many people would consider artists like Stevie Wonder and Miles Davis to be Progressive, and we have a term for that style of more advanced R&B, Funk, and Soul; Progressive Soul. Something like Living For The City is as conceptual and lyrically advanced as Pink Floyd, while having interesting rhythmic and tonal dynamics and changes in the composition of something like Genesis. Then you also have artists in Rap and Pop that use these same modes of thinking for compositions, so they are called Progressive Pop and Progressive Rap. The former I think is what best suits Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, ELO and even late 70s/80s Genesis. The 80s also had Neo-Progressive Rock, bands such as Marillion and IQ, which was very similar to regular Prog Rock in the 70s, but used more 80s synth tones and production palets. While it wasn't as popular as it was in the 70s, it certainly retained a lot more of the feel than what those 70s artists would later start doing, with the exception of Genesis, but also sometimes including Genesis. The last time Progressive music was truly in the limelight, relatively, was the 90s-2000s with Progressive Metal with bands like Queensryche, Opeth, Dream Theater, Tool, Symphony X, et cetera. These bands definitely had hits and relevance, arguably still to this day, even if it wasn't quite as big as Yes, ELP and Pink Floyd were in the 70s. Progressive is simply another musical modifier rather than a specific sound, meant to highlight the purpose and intent of the music.
I could write on English but, скажу на родном, чтобы проще было выразить свои мысли. Я познакомился с прогом буквально год назад, благодаря своему другу и за это время успел познакомиться с основными представителями. Я бы сравнил эту музыку с головоломкой, она не проста для восприятия, поэтому лично мне приходиться несколько раз переслушивать композиции и концентрироваться на этом действии. Прог это не то, что ты можешь включить в наушниках для расслабления или для того, чтобы процесс мытья посуды или другой уборки был чуточку увлекательней, хотя некоторые люди могут и так его использовать. Эта музыка воспаляет твоё любопытство, ты пытаешься искать в ней что-то и о чудо! ты находишь. Следствие всему этому, что коммерческий успех и популярность обходят эту музыку стороной и тут мы доходим до второго тезиса, который я бы хотел озвучить. Группы одноальбомники, которые появились и пропали тут же, порой выпустив какой-то просто смешной тираж в 100 пластинок.Это так странно, что до сих пор, спустя полвека находятся эти редкие пластинки (например последний альбом группы Faust), мне кажется это странным и вот моя теория - В будущем музыкальное искусство настолько деградирует, что занятие музыкой станет чем-то наподобие кёрлинга, но вместе с этим будет изобретена машина времени, которая позволит ценителям прога отправляться в конец 60ых, чтобы образовывать эти самые группы одноальбомники, выпускать один релиз и исчезать, тем самым оставляя след в истории, но не нарушая пространственно-временной континуум.
Bless you!
underrated comment
I the court of the crimson king album gave me the willies!! Nightmares!! I'm 72 and I started going to live concerts in the 60's. I love prog!! 💋💖💋💖🎶🎵🎸🌵🌵👵🐺😎🖖
I like the prog sound although I've only started exploring rock at all. For me the third self titled Deep Purple album (One of my all-time favourite albums) and first (four or five) Uriah Heep albums are fine examples of prog rock.
*******Check out "OU"(pronounced Oh) from Beijing. For me their like Kate Bush, Bjork and Djent. I love Lynn Wu's vocal lines and the Slurry of Lush vocal Harmony layered over some Heavy, Seasoned, Technical music.
Btw... Devin Townsend helped produce one of their Albums!*******
Just purchased both.👍
For me, it starts with Sgt Pepper, Freak Out and Piper at the Gates...Next !!!!!
Dear Big Yellow, Always remember the dictum of W.S. Bruford: - "When I was young I thought ALL music was "progressive" . . . that was until I heard country."
Hah! Very nice. Thanks for watching
Excellent explanation about Progressive Rock , definitely the 70s was the gold era of prog rock . Started with King Crimson and then followed by Yes , Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd , Mike Olfield, ELP , Genesis of Gabriel era. To me the best for my likes was Jethro Tull , in the 70s this band was impossible to beat . The two Albums from them Thick as a Brick and Passion Play are outstanding masterpieces, also from Yes , Close to the Edge and Tales of the Topographic Ocean, Genesis with Selling England by the Pound and Foxtrot, Pink Floyd with The Wall and Dark Side Of the moon, Mike Olfield with Tubular Bells, King Crimson with Lizard and in the Court Of the Crimson King.
I don’t know what you think about Rush ? , is a prog rock band or a hard rock band ?
I'm honestly not the biggest Rush fan - I would even say that I think they were better when they moved more towards being a bit poppier in the 80s. But yeah, definitely prog in the 70s - those long form songs, with high falutin' concepts.
Glad you liked the video! Thanks for watching :)
They had multiple long songs (2112 cygnus x1 la villa strangiatto)
Love the video. But Cream was very much at the forefront as well.. as well as some others you didnt mention.. how about a part 2? :)
Hard to argue with any of that. As a musician and massive fan of lots,( not all), of both the progressive element within lots of genres and artists AND a fair amount of the bands that hardcore Prog fans love, I’d say you covered that analysis really well. Your final point is interesting in that members of Radiohead spent time digesting loads of Prog prior to writing and recording ‘Ok Computer’, before recounting in interviews that they thought it was generally all boring 😂😂
“Nothing worth taking away from that genre lads, let’s go and record a three chords and the truth album”
Oops !!
1. Kate Bush may not have been virtuoso in playing instruments, but she was in singing - she had four octaves.
2. Prog recommends: do you know Curved Air? How about prog band solo stuff like Steve Hackett?
3. Where would you draw the boundaries with other genres like acid rock, space rock, Kraut rock, post rock?
4. Mansun got 'accused' of being prog, especially WRT the Six album. Of course they denied it. What do you think?
5. If you're going to look into genres, and you distinguish between the musical vocabulary or styles and the context or vibe they're put into, what do you think of Goth? Considering there are 8 or 10 different styles/vocabularies that have been counted as Goth/Darkwave and it ends up just being a vibe rather than a style.
PS 6. I am among those who count the Moody Blues' 1967 album Days of Future Past as the first prog album, two years before the ubiquitously mentioned In the Court of the Crimson King.
1) Indeed! I'm a big Kate Bush fan, and agree she's a fantastic singer.
2) I do know Curved Air, but have to confess they never gripped me past one or two songs - maybe I should give them another shot? And I have a couple Steve Hackett albums around - I like it, but not sure if I love it
3) Yeah, this is a hard one. I try not to get too wrapped up in genre labels broadly speaking, so certainly wouldn't say those genres are *definitively not prog*. I guess something I didn't mention in this video is that prog also feels very much like a 'scene'. Some bands are proggy in many ways but because they're not from the prog scene (or don't count themselves as continuing that tradition), 'prog' may not be best applied to them (e.g. Can)
4) I only vaguely know about Mansun - I'll give it a listen and see what I think!
5) Goth is a whole thing/set up things unto itself haha. I need to explore it a bit more deeply. I was thinking I'd probably look at psychedelic or baroque pop (or maybe even folk!) next. We shall see. Haven't got another genre episode planned in the immediate future though!
6) I think it could go either way. Ultimately there isn't really a single 'first GENRE album' for anything. It's never quite that simple. I tend not to talk about the Moody Blues much simply because I'm just not super keen (sorry!)
@@bigyellowpraxis OK, if you want to try Mansun try listening to the Six album from start to finish as that is the period that is most considered 'prog'. Paul Draper really wanted to break away from BritPop associations and commercial expectations and unfortunately he ended up alienating his own band as much as the record company. :) While people new to Mansun often find that album inaccessible at first they also tend to end up thinking it's the best thing the band ever did.
As for Curved Air, I grew up with the Air Cut album as well as three Yes albums, and it was my dad playing these that got me into prog. They are not in the top flight of prog bands but there are one or two tracks like 'Armin' that I think are a bit splendid.
And as for Steve Hackett... he is a musician sans pareil in the prog world, certainly in Genesis. Please Don't Touch is the best album, an astonishing stylistic mixture. I long ago decided that if my flat was on fire and I could rescue the collection of one prog artist it would be Steve's. I could rebuy all the Yes and Floyd later when I felt like it.
@@edljnehan2811 And how do you define art rock and distinguish it from prog? Others have certainly classed the Moody Blues as prog.
And they've used "acid rock" outside the San Francisco scene, e.g. Jimi Hendrix and Cream in the UK.
@@edljnehan2811 Sadly your comment reveals you're a bit sad and petty, and not at all knowledgeable. Never mind, it was a long shot that you were going to teach me anything about this subject anyway.
Gentle Giant. Hawkwind. Amon Duul.(Sic?). Cheers to all who love Prog n Punk. And all other global Genres, idioms and Styles of Mu$ick.
3:20 It wasn’t just once! They had 2 full fourty minute songs that reached number one, back to back
lets not forget Amon Dull,Can!! hawkwind.........! I luv magma Thanks for mentioning them!
Magma are one of my faves! thanks for watching
@@bigyellowpraxis Cool! I saw them liv S.f About 10 years back, gela B afria introduced them!
Don't forget Stravinsky!
Good point! Thanks for watching
did he just use the World Health Org logo to represent The Who..... the hell.... lmaooo!!!
THANK YOU for paying enough attention to get my stupid little jokes :)
As a life long Floyd fan I've never considered them a prog band...well apart from The Atom Heart Mother Suite when they showed how it should be done!!
:)
Solar Fire Manfred Mann's eart band.
Totaly underrated Prog album.
Fine melodies,groovy and kind of Funky.
The title track has the smoothest 7/8 time signature in prog history 🤘
Prog is a Baroque form of psychedelic rock, Which is fairly baroque already.
Great way to put it! Thanks for watching
Pretty much.
For me it has always been VdGG, Caravan, Soft Machine, Gong, and all the related acts and solo artists. Amazing. More recently I have discovered some greats like lesser-know Gnigrolog (amazing!) and well-know Gentle Giant (whom I love, especially watching them live, albeit on video). I do not enjoy Genesis at all, sadly, but not for lack of trying. Most other prog acts are hit and miss for me. Some good moments, but no obsessive love-affair like I have with the prog of my adolescence. Feel free to suggest stuff based on my preferences. Thanks!
Also, I'd love to interview you about prog on my religious podcast! Get in touch if you have the time and the inclination.
Sounds like you might enjoy Magma? If you don't already know them.
I checked out your channel, and unfortunately I don't think your podcast is something I'd particularly like to engage with. Sorry!
@@bigyellowpraxis I understand completely, brother. No worries. Thanks for the tip, anyway; I'll check out Magma. Any albums I should start with or avoid, particularly?
@@bigyellowpraxis I just booked *Steve Babb* from *Glass Hammer* to come chat on a livestream this Saturday 2pm EST. If you reconsider, you have an open invitation to come chat, brother. No pressure!
Very interesting video. Prog certainly will cause controversy among its listeners as to who and what it is because it's a very broad encompassing term. Its musical elements can cross a wide variety of genres making attempts to simply classifying it easily very difficult. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder and Prog may be in the ear of the listener. 😊
Heya guys, absolutely love these (not at all nerdy) sorta genre/band/style discussions.. From as far back as I can remember, Ive always wanted to... compartmentalize Prog bands!! To even come close, for my sanity anyway, it begins fundamentally. Proggy and progressive aren't the same thing. I've always associated proggy bands with having a real spacey/trippy vibe. Yno, your Shine ons... your Peruvian skies etc while when you say progressive, I automatically think more arty/experimental. So like everything else lol but specifically more a Crimson, Zappa or def early Genesis.
Thanks for watching - glad you liked the video :)
Gentle Giant: My Fave! Also, they did one punk song: "Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It", from The Missing Piece
Is anyone else who was young in the UK in tbe 1970s sick of being told by Americans that the genre "prog rock" did not exist at the time and that it is a name that was only applied retrospectively?
Those of us who were there know full well that the music of Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson, Gentle Gisnt et al was definitely called progressive rock (and/or "prog", "prog rock") in the UK at the time the music waa being made.
You never mentioned Gentle Giant in this video. One of the most influential bands in the genre.
You are right! Ultimately, I can't talk about everything, and try to include what I can, but plenty gets left out. That's not to imply anybody I don't mention isn't important - it's just the reality of making videos like this. Thanks for watching!
Is it odd that I first heard of "The Court of the Crimson King" in a Venture Brothers joke?
Not much on ELP who were as big as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd throughout the 70s. But then again, prog wasn't a genre until the 70s were at an end. It was all rock to those of us who grew up with it when it was all new...
You should listen to Argentinian prog rock if you haven’t, it’s sublime. You can start with Invisible, it’s on Spotify. I also really like the album Crisálida (by Espíritu)
Thanks for watching - I'll definitely give them a listen :)
Brilliant video! Can I make a couple of suggestions?
1. If you're not already aware of it, I would suggest you look up Andy Edwards CZcams channel. He does a lot of these types of video about Prog
2. Please check out the Swedish band, Moon Safari. They have a new album out on December 8 2023. Andy Edwards has also done a review/interview with them!
It's heavy metal without the Heavy focus :D
When you have a conversation about prog, you find yourself saying prog alot.... Prog is a funny word
I'd include short-lived Canadian band Secret and Whisper, and Falling Up from Captiva and later. You mentioned Dream Theatre, but not Spock's Beard or Transatlantic.
Great video but who are “the coolest people that like it”?
Me 😎
I heavily recommend Thirsty Moon. An amazing German prog band, i hardly hear anyone speak about them and in my opinion should be known more
their first album is absolutely amazing and worth a listen
Thanks for this recommendation im blown away
There's a band Khan with Steve hillage and dave stewart with just one album called space shanty highly recommend giving it a listen
Good video! Basically if musical genres were levels in a computer game prog rock, going from simplest to most difficult, would probably be the last level - even classical music and opera (high art) seem to have less complexity and 'sub-genres' in them, they're a bit more predictable. What similarity is there between, say, Van Der Graaf Generator and someone like Renaissance!? And then there's people like Hawkwind and Mike Oldfield, who helped create their own genres whilst still being prog too... hey, some of it is even accessible, particularly as we got into the neo-prog era!
Having just been to the Prog festival in Sheffield (again) I think it's actually prog's USP - not the musicianship, not the concepts, not the bizarre subjects, not the odd time signatures, flutes or Mellotrons, but the sheer diversity of the artists! And the other thing that characterises prog is something I heard about King Crimson - that it doesn't really 'come' from anywhere, unlike most music.
Listen to Stevie Wonder's Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants. Pretty much a straight up double concept album just like Topographic Oceans, The Lamb or The Wall. Only prejudice can keep it out of your Prog section.
Prog was not killed by Punk. At least not anywhere but in Britain. Punk never made a blip on the radar anywhere else, and Prog was doing fine on the pop charts, holding its own against Disco and New Wave. Mostly they just used Punk as an excuse to run out of steam and give up, rather than adapt. While the bands that did opt to adapt did fine in the 80's.
Prog is not about a sound or any specific musical elements. Prog starts with Sgt. Pepper and continues from there exploring Paul McCartney's statement that "Rock music is the classical music of today." And if you insist on waiting for King Crimson you miss 2 or 3 years of the progression. Which from The Beatles moves directly on to Procol Harum who did the first continuous 17 minute suite.
I can't fault you for being wrong about many things because the history of what went down in the 60's and 70's has been largely fabricated by the music press and further confused by a Prog fandom that just wants to promote the sounds it favors and couldn't care less about truth.
The truth is Progressive Rock was a radio format that was in no way exclusive to the bands now commonly thought of as Prog. Progressive Rock disc jockeys played all the interesting and innovative album rock of the day. The term used back then for the music you're talking about was Art Rock.
Art Rock denoted bands who, true to Paul McCartney's statement, looked on Rock as art, and therefore would mix genres to their heart's content, put no limits on the length of their compositions, incorporate classical and experimental elements, play with orchestras, and design multimedia rock opera extravaganzas.
Art Rock was never a sound. To copy the sound of another band was seriously frowned upon. It was rather a musical ethic to strive for greatness and spare no expense in the musical expression of an idea.
For Prog today to be a simple musical genre with sounds that are common and expected is a completely different thing that generally sucks and has little, if any, connection to what went on with the bands you're talking about back in the day. Post era Prog doesn't always suck, but good luck wading through the mountains of suck to find something of comparable quality to Classic Art Rock.
And when you do find something of quality the Prog fandom will trash it, because generally proggers hate Art Rock. They hate classical content and have no sympathy with 70's sensibilities. What they love is Progressive Jazz units masquerading as Rock bands, endlessly noodling around on their instruments, while expressing nothing but self-adulation and depressing atmospheres. Which is fine if you like that stuff. But using the classic bands to sell it is dishonest. It's not the same idea, it's not the same ethic, and it's certainly not the same spirit.
I'm a simple man: if it is on prog archives, so it is prog.
Good rule
I prefer to read the word "progressive" in the first sense, actually. I feel the most defining element of a "progressive" piece is that it consists of three or more sections or "movements," and -- here it comes :) -- it *progresses* from one to the next in a way that is either narrative or thematic. That's a structural definition, not a contextual one.
This video, like most Prog songs, put me to sleep about halfway through.
This video is great but I think there should be more talking points on modern progressive rock such as Porcupine Tree or Spock’s Beard
Yeah, I would have talked more about them had I the time, but I was trying to keep it a sensible length. Maybe I'll get round to them one day! Thanks for watching
Magma pioneered the genre zeuhl. Have you listened to any other zeuhl bands like Eskaton, J.A.Caesar, Koenji Hyakkei, Weidorje, Bondage Fruit, Ruins, Archaia?
The term Art Rock was used in the late 60s and early 70s. Prog is a retrospective term. As a musician I appreciate the level of musicianship in this genre. Nektar
Absolutely not true. In the UK the terms prog rock, progressive rock, prog were very widely used at the time to describe the music of Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, ELP et al. Art rock was very rarely used at that time and when it was it was mostly to describe the rather self-consciously "quirky" and arch music of bands like Deaf School, Split Enz, Sadistic Mika Band and the like.
As usual Americans can't conceive that things happen differently in countries that aren't the US. So because terms like progressive rock, prog rock, and prog weren't used in the US at the time, they assume that they weren't used anywhere else. The only other excuse is that you're simply too young and weren't around when the music was actually being made in the UK. Because I can assure you that everybody here called it progressive rock.
@@peterfitton4529 the first part of your response is appreciated.
I was around when this music was popular, and there was nothing called ‘prog’ rock then. There was something called progressive radio which meant it was a freeform format where the deejay could play whatever they wanted and talk about anything. They tended to play album tracks and off the charts type things like Yes along with Elton John, Joni Mitchell, CSN&Y etc. as if it was all just one happy family. The target of punk was not the ‘progressive’ bands but the easy listening and corporate music of the mainstream charts like ‘the Pina Colada song.’ You have to be rich and in a leisure suit to relate to that. Even Johnny Rotten later admited he liked prog’ music. The Pink Floyd t-shirt was his own and he scrawled ‘I hate’ really just for fun and controversy. His guitarist for PiL was a Yes fan too.
I can assure you that the music most definitely WAS called prog rock (or progressive rock, prog, the terms were interchangeable) in the UK at the time. That was how the music of Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, ELP, et al was described. Progressive Rock was a very widely used and understood term. Occasionally it was also used, alongside "underground rock", to describe any kind of album-orientated non-Top 40 brand of rock music. But if you asked anyone interested in music what sort of stuff Yes, ELP, or Genesis or similar played the answer would always be progressive rock.
The term may not have been used in the US, but where most of the music came from it most certainly was used. On the other hand, we in the UK had no "progressive radio". That term certainly did not exist. There were no FM rock music channels whatsoever, and you heard almost no rock music of any kind on either UK radio or TV. The only exceptions were the John Peel radio show on BBC Radio 1 and, later, the Alan Freeman show on Saturday afternoons. The likes of Elton John, The Eagles, and 10cc would occasionally get played on daytime radio but that was as close to *serious" rock music as things got at that time.
I like Pink Floyd but for some reason never included them with the other prog acts, ditto for Ian Anderson. I think it's the blues feel of David Gilmour, I much prefer Syd's playing as the Blues is not exactly my favourite genre, though of course one is amazed by some of its guitarists' prowess, including Gilmour. I'm enjoying your Young Person's Guide to Progressive Rock; I was only nine when King Crimson formed.
I can't think of any station that would play prog if it came back. We have a couple of classic rock stations but music just isn't what it used to be. ELP is my favorite band.
Thanks for watching!
I feel like without the psychadelic era we may not have prog in the state it is/was.
What about pawn hearts by van der graff generator?
Great album! I love VdGG
My son gets a bit annoyed as I say to him all musical roads lead back to prog. When he’s showing me his latest fave band. He tries to argue but usually ends up in a blind ally. Can you work out why? ? ?
Procol Harum should also be in your fringe list.
The thing about prog, is that it can be anything. Prog is mostly the act of thinking outside of the box.
ELO has a lot of poppy songs and it's a full prog band.
Yes' Owner of a Lonely heart is a pop song and it's still prog.
I think all major bands have dabbled into prog.
Tears for Fears' Sowing the Seeds of Love is Prog.
Now, modern Prog Metal, is not very prog. A lot of the sounds of the bands are very similar, they follow similar beats, similar sounds and timbres. The thing that makes them "prog" is long songs, very technically difficult, with different movements throughout. But they now do that in a very similar structure.
A modern prog band that is incredible is 6:33. They are very different, the lyrics are not serious, they do different things, there's a lot of swing influences and so on.
I guess Kate Bush could be seen as prog pop, maybe!
Yeah, definitely :) thanks for watching
Cream I consider an early Prog band
I personally don't, but that's OK
Well Steven Wilson hates the label "prog" preferring the whole word, so, I guess that him solo and PT are definitely prog, based on your last statement. 🤔😁
That makes him more prog than anyone else then! 😅
"And Why Do All the Coolest People Like It?" So am I cool?
Yes, of course you are
There is also progressive pop.
It Bites being just one example.
I think the Beach Boys (especially Pet Sounds, SMiLE and Surf's Up), ELO, and Queen are examples.
A prog rock video without Steven Wilson? Whaaaat?
Honestly, I'm just not much of a fan of his! 😬
@@bigyellowpraxis Yeah his stuff are more metal inspired , which I really like
How does Hocus Pocus fit in? Gentle Giant? How about the Who Quadrophenia album?
Egg
When you say Psychedelic rock, I tend to think of Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish. The San Francisco bands. And I know that there are people out there who will say that it is more that that, but these bands lived, breathed, and wore psychedelia on their sleeves.
I found it strange the grateful dead was never mentioned, which I'd consider the holy grail of prog eh?
@@mustacheman19 Pink Floyd is certainly the holy grail of prog.
@@fabianramsay7937 true but same for the dead
I loved Yes, my first prog band. The Yes Album, Fragile and Close To The Edge were epic. Three spectacular albums in a row. When Tales came out l was certain it would be another masterpiece. What a boring pointless slog! I listened to it twice to make sure it was as bad as l thought it was. I lent it to my friends who loved Yes as much as l did. They agreed it was awful. Around the same time Van Der Graaf Generator's World Record and King Crimson Red hit the shelves. Both were good but not quite up to their previous work. Eno's Another Green World and Bowie's Low helped fill the void but by 75 Gabriel had left Genesis and for me prog rock was dying just as l was graduating high school