Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a style of rock music that arose in the late 1960s, reaching the peak of its popularity in the 1970s.
Progressive rock artists sought to move forward, or progress, the rock genre from its simple roots to a higher level. The music is often complex and elaborate, frequently requiring a high level of musicianship from the artists. Elements of progressive rock include:
- Long pieces, in some cases over 20 minutes. (An extreme example is Karn Evil 9 by Emerson Lake and Palmer, which was too long to fit on a single LP album side).
- Pieces that are subdivided into sub-pieces, in the manner of a classical symphony. (An example is the four-part Close to the Edge by Yes).
- Lyrics that are complex and sometimes impenetrable, but usually carefully crafted, covering such themes as science fiction, fantasy, religion, war, love, madness and history.
- Concept albums, where a theme or set of themes is explored throughout an entire album. (Extreme examples are the double concept albums, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis and Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes).
- Unusual vocal styles and use of multi-part vocal harmonies.
- Use of both classical and electronic instruments (particularly keyboards), in addition to the usual rock combination of electric guitar, bass and drums.
- Inclusion of elements from disparate other musical genres, particularly hard rock, classical music and jazz.
- Use of syncopation, unusual time signatures, scales or tunings. Some pieces use multiple time signatures and/or tempos, sometimes overlaid.
- 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 included pieces by Copland, Moussorgsky, Parry and others.
Progressive rock can be closely identified with the term art rock. Symphonic rock can be considered a significant subset of progressive rock.
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, popular and critical opinion moved toward a simpler and more aggressive style of rock, with the words "pretentious" and "overblown" often being used to describe progressive rock.
The early 1980s saw something of a revival of the genre, led by groups such as Marillion. 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, yet was simple enough to be played at discos.
Today, progressive rock continues to be created and admired by a solid core of enthusiasts, but cannot convincingly claim to be progressing rock music in the way it once did.
Artists whose works include at least some progressive rock elements: