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Been listening to a lot of Jethro Tull lately, October always brings out the pagan in me! Was wondering what everyone here thought of Progressive Rock then & now (who are the P.Rock bands today?), what defines a good P.Rock band? Odd time signatures?

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of both Tull & King Crimson, having listened to them since I was wee tyke and still enjoying them as a decrepit old man!

Like any label, Progressive Rock (PR) is not a precise descriptor. It's as nebulous a term as 'Alternative Rock', but it gives you an idea at least. PR started with musicians who wanted to push the boundaries of rock music beyond run-of-the-mill love songs with standard beats and arrangements. Yes, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Genesis and ELP are all thought of as the first PR bands because they combined elements of rock, jazz, classical and world music with thematically interesting lyrics and unusual time signatures. The music often required formal training and was more difficult to play than its predecessors, and as a result, since beginning musicians couldn't play it, the reaction to PR spawned another PR: punk rock.

Many people have declared progressive rock dead for years, however pockets of resistance hold out and there are many bands that proudly call themselves PR (Dream Theater is usually mentioned, however there are many other more deserving bands such as Porcupine Tree). The 70's will always be the heyday of PR, and some would even say of all rock.

Wow, that was informative Jimmy.

I can say with all honesty I couldn't have explained that at all.

When someone says PR to me, I generally fade out a little because I still don't understand what it is.

jimmydanger wrote:Like any label, Progressive Rock (PR) is not a precise descriptor. It's as nebulous a term as 'Alternative Rock', but it gives you an idea at least. PR started with musicians who wanted to push the boundaries of rock music beyond run-of-the-mill love songs with standard beats and arrangements. Yes, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Genesis and ELP are all thought of as the first PR bands because they combined elements of rock, jazz, classical and world music with thematically interesting lyrics and unusual time signatures. The music often required formal training and was more difficult to play than its predecessors, and as a result, since beginning musicians couldn't play it, the reaction to PR spawned another PR: punk rock.

Many people have declared progressive rock dead for years, however pockets of resistance hold out and there are many bands that proudly call themselves PR (Dream Theater is usually mentioned, however there are many other more deserving bands such as Porcupine Tree). The 70's will always be the heyday of PR, and some would even say of all rock.

There is one other element not mentioned here... PR / AR all have their roots in "Concept Albums" As you know, Beatles (And the Beach Boys) probably pioneered the the first of the Concept Albums i.e Animals... Sgt Pepper, etc. This was later followed by bands like Genesis ...(It really took off when Queen stepped up and Freddie Mercury added the operatic theme...) Jethro Tull was an amazing band, who actually , deviated somewhat from the concept album format and brought envelope-pushing sound and style back down to 4 minute songs... They are truly a legend in their own standing... Nowadays, I think Ian Anderson does a R & B band in his local venues, and travels a lot.

I think the original term prog rock was intended to show a concerted moving on from the old rock & roll . I think some of its is / was good & some of it in the moving on just sort of lost all of the excitement of rock & roll . I tend to like music that evokes feeling & not so much music that is "intellectualized". That said its probably a personal taste thing as well. I dont think about why I like or dislike ,just enjoy it if I do & skip it if I don't .

blues edge wrote:I think the original term prog rock was intended to show a concerted moving on from the old rock & roll . I think some of its is / was good & some of it in the moving on just sort of lost all of the excitement of rock & roll . I tend to like music that evokes feeling & not so much music that is "intellectualized". That said its probably a personal taste thing as well. I dont think about why I like or dislike ,just enjoy it if I do & skip it if I don't .

I hear ya... I forgot to mention 'YES" . They were probably the intellectual side of Concept albumology.... Of course the fact that most of the members had some classical /formal training in music had some role on how that appeared out to the pop 7 rock audiences. But I must admit, they captured the feel quite well.

For what it's worth I think it's more of a sales pitch.


Same candy bar, different wrapper. ( maybe add some coconut this time )

Easter lights, Christmas lights, Halloween lights, they are just lights on a damn string.


Heck, the terms ROCK & METAL don't even mean the same thing they did thirty years ago to the masses.

Interesting concepts all. As a labeling and marketing ploy I can see how repackaging rock to make it elite would work, some people feel special when they are in an elite group. Though the level of craft was usually higher than most 'rock' packages it seemed.

Prog is my life, and live it daily.
There has been a downturn lately in prog (less bands) but it will always have another revival.

Etu Malku wrote:Been listening to a lot of Jethro Tull lately, October always brings out the pagan in me! Was wondering what everyone here thought of Progressive Rock then & now (who are the P.Rock bands today?), what defines a good P.Rock band? Odd time signatures?

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of both Tull & King Crimson, having listened to them since I was wee tyke and still enjoying them as a decrepit old man!

I always thought of PR as something that was anti-commercial FM radio album cuts (back when AM radio was where they played the "hits")

It was usually defined by songs that were about 8 minutes long with lots of solos and jamming and no mention of "love"

As already stated, progressive rock started in the late 60's and still continues, with a dedicated fan base holding strong. Here is a small list of a few bands that did not get mentioned, in no particular order;

1. Pink Floyd
2. The Moody Blues
3. Frank Zappa
4. Emerson, Lake and Palmer
5. Hawkwind
6. Marillion
7. Queen
8. Brand X
9. Atomic Rooster
10. Roxy Music
11. Rush
12. UK
13. Captain Beefheart
14. The Alan Parsons Project
15. Todd Rundgren
16. Styx
17. Kansas
18. Toto
19. Saga

Technically these are classified as metal bands but they definitely have progressive rock tendencies.

1. Royal Hunt
2. Vanden Plas
3. Edwin Dare
4. Mekong Delta
5. Spocks Beard

These bands fall into several different categories;

1. Primus
2. Tool
3. Trans Siberian Orchestra
4. Dave Matthews Band

Opeth, a progressive death metal band incorporates progressive rock flavorings all over the place within their songs.

Many shred type guitarists lean towards progressive elements, as instrumental songs/music tends to fall on that side of the fence quite often.

Also, there are many bands from the 60's that are'nt progressive per say, but have a progressive nature to them and obviously helped to create the genre of progressive rock/music.

15) Todd Rundgren - hasn't done any *new* progressive music since the old Utopia days, but he did revive the music last year for a mini-tour.

11) Rush - I never considered their stuff 'progressive', but then again I was never a real fan, only heard their radio tunes. My wife just got us tickets for their Manchester, NH show in September!

Is this progressive?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Iq7D36qDk

(Lestat's Song from Queen of The Damned)

Chief Engineer Scott wrote:Is this progressive?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Iq7D36qDk

(Lestat's Song from Queen of The Damned)

No, this is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giKVNoTDvOE&feature=related

Camel is a classic prog rock band. If you haven't heard the musical style before, they a re a great place to start.