If I remember correctly, my first experience with the vast underground “prog scene” was around the mid-70s, when a fondness for GENESIS’ “Foxtrot” led me to purchase the rest of their albums. You know how it is at school, though: friends introduce you to strange new ideas and influences, and gradually you become hooked on new kinds of music. So it was with me. I listened intently to all the new sounds and styles with intrigue and delight. My collection of prog rock LPs was fairly extensive and growing, as I was buying about three new prog LPs each week, whenever my finances would allow.

At Sherbrooke University in Québec, my eagerness to explore progressive music led to quite a large collection of great bands and albums, including GENESIS (Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound), PINK FLOYD (Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals), ELOY (Dawn, Ocean), The STRAWBS (Hero and Heroine, Grave New World), BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST (Everyone Is Everybody Else, Time Honoured Ghosts), JETHRO TULL (Thick As a Brick, Aqualung), The MOODY BLUES (Days Of Future Passed, On The Threshold Of A Dream), RENAISSANCE (Scheherazade and Other Stories), and SUPERTRAMP (Crime Of The Century), among others. I also became fascinated with Italian progressive rock (BANCO, Le ORME, PFM), as well as other non-English European prog, and the expanding American prog scene.

I continue to expand my knowledge and appreciation for this rock genre which offers so many diverse styles and creative elements. My passion for prog rock has grown to encompass many groups, and lately I’ve realized that more and more of my favorites come from the neo-prog, symphonic prog, prog metal and space rock subgenres. This phase of my musical exploration has taken me into the realms of new groups like MARILLION (Script For A Jester’s Tear, Misplaced Childhood, Marbles), ANGLAGARD (Hybris), ARENA (The Visitor, Immortal?), AYREON (Into The Electric Castle, The Universal Migrator Part 1 & 2), CAMEL (Mirage, Harbour Of Tears), DREAM THEATER (Images & Words, Octavarium), IQ (Subterranea, Dark Matter), LANDS END (Natural Selection), PAIN OF SALVATION (The Perfect Element Part 1), PALLAS (The Dreams Of Men), PENDRAGON (The Masquerade Overture, Believe), PINEAPPLE THIEF (Variations On A Dream), and PORCUPINE TREE (Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, Deadwing), among others.

In my opinion, recent years have brought us some very good and memorable Prog Rock music!

“Progressive Rock is a music made for the dream, the escape, to feel a multitude of emotions.”

PROGRESSIVE ROCK
FORTY YEARS OF HISTORY

1- BOOK : ESSENTIAL MINI-GUIDE TO PROGRESSIVE ROCK
2- CATALOG : The A-Z LISTINGS TO PROGRESSIVE ROCK
3- HTML WEB PAGES (... UNDER CONSTRUCTION ...)

THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE FOR PROGRESSIVE MUSIC AND RELATED GENRES

This HUGE COLLECTION represents the most complete reference about PROGRESSIVE ROCK, filled with all the bands and details of their albums. An essential source for anyone interested in the PROG genre’s more obscure offerings over the past forty years. In fact, it will eventually open a door to other music styles closely related with the PROGRESSIVE MUSIC.

1- BOOK : ESSENTIAL MINI-GUIDE TO PROGRESSIVE ROCK
Completely revised and updated 2nd edition 2008
PDF PRINTABLE FORMAT

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

o Dedication
o My story with Progressive Rock music
o ProgArchives.com
o Preface

INDEX A - The Definition ... UPDATE ...

INDEX B - The Development
• Late 60s and beginning of the 70s
• The 70s
• The 80s
• The 90s to the Present

INDEX C - The face of progressive music ... NEW ...

INDEX D - The History (1966 to the Present)
• Introduction
• 1 - Proto-History - 1960s
o Proto-Prog Part I ... UPDATE ...
o Proto-Prog Part II ... NEW ...
• 2 - First Wave - 1970s
• 3 - Second Wave - 1980s
• 4 - Third Wave - 1990s to the Present
• Conclusion

INDEX E - Progressive Art: The Most Beautiful ‘Album Covers’ ... NEW ...
I) Hipgnosis: Surrealism and Mystification
II) Kim Poor: Diaphanism
III) Paul Whitehead & Genesis
IV) Worlds of Roger Dean
V) Mark Wilkinson & Marillion
VI) Hugh Syme: Exploiting the Words
VII) Simon Williams: The Carnival of the Masks
VIII) Single Works
IX) The Changing
X) The Art of Ed Unitsky

A comprehensive guide that offers as a good introduction for beginners to the genre.

COVER ARTWORK BY ED UNITSKY 2007

FEATURING :
48 pages of essential PROGRESSIVE ROCK references and historical notes that follow the complex development of this musical genre...

o The definition
o The development
o The face of progressive rock ... NEW ...
o The history (1967 to Present) ... UPDATE ...
o An analysis of the artwork of progressive rock ... NEW ...
o Top 20 classic prog music albums...

‘’Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence.’’
- Robert Fripp

2- CATALOG : THE A-Z LISTINGS TO PROGRESSIVE ROCK
1st edition January 2008 / 2nd edition June 2008 ...
PDF PRINTABLE FORMAT

A VALUABLE RESOURCE for anyone interested to the PROGRESSIVE genre’s more obscure offerings over the past FORTY YEARS

After almost three years collecting, I present to you the first edition of my catalog to PROGRESSIVE ROCK - quite a monumental task. It covers over 5000 references containing some information about artistic influences and comparisons to help in your discovery.

PLEASE NOTE : That this ‘’progressive rock catalog’’ is a work progress, and is far from complete.
Many artists not already included are slated for inclusion in future editions.




‘’Music is of true-genius which becomes more whole and more holy every day.''
- Julian Cope

FEATURING :
o 112 pages of essential PROGRESSIVE ROCK references
o A comprehensive A-Z listing of over 5000 PROGRESSIVE ROCK bands with a critical analysis (stylistic aspects & artistic influences)
o The influences of progressive rock
o An appendix of 50 of the most influential PROGRESSIVE ROCK bands with their best albums

These extremely well-researched catalog soon will be to be an essential source of information about an entire segment of PROGRESSIVE ROCK.


ENJOY YOUR DISCOVERIES...!



3- HTML WEB PAGES
... UNDER CONSTRUCTION ...

An interesting HTML WEB PAGE is currently UNDER CONSTRUCTION (expected to be available by February 2008). We aim to be the number one authority on PROGRESSIVE MUSIC, and your first choice of site for PROG!

The site is constantly changing and improving, getting bigger every day so come back often!

‘’Enter the landscape of your mind, a world so strange and unknown that it seems untouched.’’

“Progressive rock - also known as “prog rock,” “classical rock” or “art rock” - is a unique form of rock music, occurring at the intersection between rock, soul, blues and jazz styles with classical and symphonic sounds and structures.”

The problem of the "correct terminology" is back - “progressive music” or “progressive rock” (or “prog,” for close friends) - with you to choose! The etymology of those terms has become almost “evil,” creating such a “headache” that it is difficult even to consider, much less catalogue this diverting genre of music. But is the “essence” of something not specific to each one of us? After all, what good is it to disparage an album if one has not listened to it? With “progressive rock,” one often only truly enjoys an album after having listened to it several times. Our tympanums are our interpreters, but the “spirit” is our only judge.

It would take a very astute mind to define prog clearly. Many such minds have tried, with varying degrees of success, but ultimately each person has his/her own definition. Given human nature, there is nothing surprising about that, and yet even I have not yet offered a definition to anyone… yet. Now I do so, with, inevitably, an ounce (or maybe more…) of partiality:

I would like to dispense with the myth that “Progressive Rock” emerged in the United Kingdom like a phoenix from the ashes. Indeed, the majority of bands who were newly formed at the end of the 60s and beginning of the 70s were very much inspired by the examples of British and American acts such as The BEATLES, FRANK ZAPPA, PINK FLOYD, CREAM, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, SOFT MACHINE, The NICE, PROCOL HARUM, and The MOODY BLUES. They were quickly followed by a new geneneration of progressive rock bands like KING CRIMSON, YES, GENESIS, EMERSON LAKE & PALMER, JETHRO TULL, GENTLE GIANT, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR and many others from all over the world. Also, there were other bands who were looking for totally new forms and methods of playing together, such as HARMONIUM and RUSH (Canada), ANGE and MAGMA (France), AMON DUUL, CAN, ELOY and TANGERINE DREAM (Germany), BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO and PFM (Italy), TRIANA (Spain), STYX and KANSAS (USA), and GONG (muti-national), to name but a few.

By pushing the research a little further, one realizes that, in general, most definitions of “progressive rock” share in common such terms as “EVOLUTION,” “PROGRESSION,” “INNOVATION” and “UNCOMMERCIAL."

The main defining characteristics and tendencies are that the compositions are more elaborate than the standard rock song structure of verse, chorus etc. Musicianship is often taken to the limit - and indeed, many of innovative and open-minded bands in "prog rock" had their origins in the late 1960s art school of Britain. They were created to represent a philosophical approach to rock by experimenting with unusual musical instruments including wind sections (flute, saxophone) and string sections (violin, cellos, harpsichord, etc.), electronic experiments (MOOG & ARP synthesizers, the Mellotron, HAMMOND B-3 organ) and full orchestration. The arrangements incorporate stylisation based on jazzy theory, classical elements, world or even avant-garde music. The lyrics, where they exist, are often poetic, conceptual (a musical "journey" with intricate melodies and harmony) or based in fantasy.

With regard to musical structure, “prog” usually offers complex arrangements - often including long, beautiful instrumental sections (pieces from 6- to 20-minutes long) - and virtuoso musicianship, combining technical mastery and emotional solos. An early example is the 23-minute “Echoes” by PINK FLOYD. Other famous examples include YES’ “Close to the Edge” (18 minutes) and GENESIS’ “Supper’s Ready” (23 minutes). When not forced into using “mainstream” structures, artists have freer reign to integrate their individual and collective cultures and influences - classical (early symphonic prog), jazz, traditional - into the “energy” of their music.

“My ears are lucky to hear
These glorious songs
Of inspiration
And voices crafted from
Thunder
The power of life”
- Happy Rhodes, “Feed The Fire” (Warpaint version)

The progressive rock movement began in Britain in the late 1960s and early 1970s branching off from the fields of psychedelic and underground rock - that somehow progressed beyond the constraints of traditional musical structures by adopting influences from jazz-rock fusion ("jazz-rock" in the U.K. & "fusion" in the U.S.), classical, folk, avant-garde, experimental and world music. It is through these various tendencies that many sub-genres later will be established : Canterbury, symphonic prog (probably the most famous names in prog), space rock, folk prog, Krautrock, Zeuhl, neo-prog, prog metal, post-rock, experimental etc… and it is today one of the most interesting and widely overlooked musical phenomena of the 20th Century.

Like any music, "progressive rock" has subgenres, defined according to the way in which various artists interpreted the new "current." Ultimately, if one wanted to complicate matters, one could "define" an almost unlimited number of subgenres.

However, without being completely exhaustive, the various tendencies (or forms of progressive rock music) are:

Psychedelic (PINK FLOYD), jazz-fusion (FRANK ZAPPA), the Canterbury School (CARAVAN, GONG), Experimental in the Sixties (SOFT MACHINE, KING CRIMSON). There are also theatrical (GENESIS), traditional (EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER), symphonic (YES, CAMEL), Folk Progressive (JETHRO TULL, GENTLE GIANT, RENAISSANCE, the STRAWBS), Italian Progressive Rock (BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO, LE ORME, PFM), Hard Progressive (RUSH), German Progressive Current (ELOY - space rock; AMON DUUL II - krautrock), Progressive Electronic (TANGERINE DREAM), Progressive Instrumental (MIKE OLDFIELD), Rock In Opposition, or RIO (HENRY COW), Zeuhl (MAGMA), and art rock/“pomp prog” in the ‘70s and through the ‘80s (SUPERTRAMP). There are even Neo-Progressive in the Eighties (MARILLION, ARENA, PENDRAGON), Progressive Metal (DREAM THEATER, AYREON, PAIN OF SALVATION), and Experimental & Post-Rock in the Nineties (TORTOISE, GOODSPEED YOU BLOCK EMPEROR!).

Another fundamental characteristic of this “cerebral” genre, is its universality (without any commercial or media support) : vibrant "progressive rock" communities span the globe, in South America, Japan, Western Europe (Italy, Holland, Sweden and where it all started, in the UK), Eastern Europe (Poland and Hungary), the USA and in Quebec, Canada with concerts, magazines and specialised distributors devoted to the cause of quality music.

With the advent of the World Wide Web, it is safe to assert that "Progressive Rock" is in full expansion, even though it will probably never again dominate the charts, destined to “progress” perpetually beyond the shallow silliness that has, for so long, been polluting the airwaves.

"You call yourselves progressive
I say it's all regressive
You think you can stand in judgement
So listen here and I'll remind you :

Preaching the converted
’cause it's all you know
Music's dead because
It"s all about the money now…"
(Preaching the converted - "Test Of Willis" - MAGELLAN 1995)

"Music speaks through one language but in many dialects."
(Tracts Promo Discipline Global Mobile 1996)

All intelligent music lovers should be made aware of the wonders of this style!

PROTO-HISTORY: Not Yet "Prog," But Almost! (1966-1969)

Sometimes called Proto-Prog ("proto": first-formed, primary), this pre-genre describes the groups and musicians who were the first to blend classical and/or artistic elements with Rock music : some of them only in the arrangements, though others went further. Anything which dates from before 1970 is regarded as the psychedelic or proto-prog (prototype of progressive).

The mid-1960s "British Invasion" groups, in an apparent attempt to surpass one another in "vanguardism," began to utilize instruments and stylistic elements drawn from both the British music hall and European art music (commonly known as "classical" music, even though that is not a 100% accurate term) traditions. They were the logical step in musical evolution after the psychedelic explosion. The doors of perception were opened by psychedelic rockers such as The BEATLES, Frank ZAPPA, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, CREAM and also PINK FLOYD with their first album, who dared to explore further and push back boundaries.

The earliest traces of progressive rock can be seen in the wake of the experimental work by artists (and albums) like The BEACH BOYS ("Pet Sounds") and The BEATLES ("Revolver" & "Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band"). The valuable efforts of these groups were habitually to expand the roots of the rock movement leading to innovations such as concept albums which also contained psychedelia. Developing their avant-garde progressive rock music since 1965, PINK FLOYD released their pivotal "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" in 1967 and by the end of the year CREAM responded with their psychedelic & blues rock album "Disraeli Gears."

THE BEACH BOYS
"Pet Sounds" - May 1966

While the contribution of the BEATLES should never be forgotten, one often underestimates the BEACH BOYS who released "Pet Sounds." This inspired two of the greatest albums of all time, the BEATLES' "Revolver" ('Tomorrow Never Knows' - the first progressive title in history) and "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". "Pet sounds" is for its time a complex symphonic/pop suite of songs: ethereal harmonies, revolutionary chord progressions, soul-baring lyrics, and Brian Wilson’s eccentric compositional prowess. "Pet Sounds" is arguably one of the greatest pop/rock albums. It is devoid of filler, unlike other ambitious works like "Sgt. Peppers…," "Tommy" and "The Wall."

THE BEATLES
"Revolver" - August 1966

Arguably the first psychedelic rock album, "Revolver" was praised for its musical experimentation but how embarrassing : a bunch of pleasant and varied songs, an impressive orchestra backing them up with violins and cellos, alternating between pop and rock with some progressive elements (adding classical instrumentation and folk instruments like tablas and sitar), and using a sophisticated studio sounds. The acid and breathtaking closer "Tomorrow Never Knows" is easily the most creative and experimental song the BEATLES had produced up to that point, and it really shows the progressive tendencies of the band. In short, "Revolver" brings out more progressive-style techniques, and rocket launches music into the next generation paving the way for KING CRIMSON, PINK FLOYD, the MOODY BLUES and others.

The BEATLES
"Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" - April 1967

The real ground-breaking however, took place in April 1967 when The BEATLES released "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - a blend of early rock ballads and styles of music never heard before - to an unsuspecting and enraptured public. These young musicians chose to amalgamate various combinations of rock, psychedelic, classical, folk, electronics, contemporary, and medieval with other forms resulting from the use of new techniques with both instruments and recording. This, the most famous rock album of all time along with its predecessor ("Revolver"), was the inspiration for legions of other artists all over the world.

PINK FLOYD
"The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" - August 1967

Psychedelic rock at its best, PINK FLOYD’s "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" represents the finest that British psychedelic music has to offer: simple, but weird and catchy, short psychedelic songs and some long early "progressive" hymns blended by the genius of Syd Barrett and the other then-members of PINK FLOYD (Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright). The outsized instrumental "Interstellar Overdrive" is the first true example of what will later become known as "Space Rock."

CREAM
"Disraeli Gears" - November 1967

Despite being comprised of three of the best musicians of the 1960’s, CREAM presented the basis of their vision in psychedelic rock : a unique fusion of Clapton’s blues styles and Bruce and Baker’s jazz influences. In fact, their music had basically three layers : a pop melody, lengthy solos inspired by free jazz, and a propulsive Rhythm & Blues beat. For many, this was the birth of what would later be called "heavy metal." The album comes in the best psychedelic cover of the 20th Century… and Clapton will go on to be hailed as a "god"!

At the same time, other musicians from the US West Coast like FRANK ZAPPA AND THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION ("Freak Out!" - an early, complex, even disturbing project) incorporated jazz influences with psychedelic rock. These were popularized by the JEFFERSON AIRPLANE's "Surrealistic Pillow," which is regarded as one of the key of recordings of the so-called "Summer Of Love." In Britain, the folk psychedelic sibling of The WILDE FLOWERS led to the birth of two progressive (Canterbury Scene) bands, SOFT MACHINE by Robert Wyatt and CARAVAN.

FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION
"Freak Out!" - August 1966

With parodies of pop music, avant-garde dissonance, unpredictable arrangements and outspoken political commentary, FRANK ZAPPA AND THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION’s debut album "Freak Out!" explored all the conventions of popular music. It’s a brilliant and wickedly charming album, not to mention one of the earliest double albums in the history of rock music.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE
"Surrealistic Pillow" - February 1967

Emerging from the US WEST COAST in the mid-1960s, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE were the ‘’flagship’’ act for the burgeoning psychedelic music scene, offering up a mix of psychedelic and prog-related songs. "Surrealistic Pillow" broke new ground with hits like "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", as they ventured into the world of the acid-rock movement that blended jazz, blues and folk, all the while maintaining that pop credibility. AIRPLANE would go on to play at the now famous Monterey Pop Festival, and would become the leaders of the San Francisco rock sound of that era. The whole world would wait impatiently for the "next trip" which would turn out to be an experimental album with long suites called "After Bathing at Baxter's". "Surrealistic Pillow" is a legendary album from a legendary band

THE WILDE FLOWERS
"Tales Of Canterbury: The Wilde Flowers Story" (1965-1969)

The roots of the "Canterbury Scene" (one of the most significant movements in the history of rock music) find their origin in this group which had a fluctuating line-up. This CD, released in 1994, compiles 22 demo tracks recorded between 1965 and 1969: the majority are "incomplete" but they contain the seeds of the new ideas which will flower later at SOFT MACHINE and CARAVAN, and their subsequent groups or careers (GONG, MATCHING MOLE, Kevin AYERS, Robert WYATT...).

SOFT MACHINE
"Volume One" - December 1968

Since its creation in 1966, SOFT MACHINE was the central foundation of the Canterbury Scene of British progressive acts, a movement that also included CARAVAN, GONG, MATCHING MOLE, etc. The original formation included Mike Ratledge (keyboards), Kevin Ayers (guitar) and Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals). The first SOFT MACHINE album is a perfect collage of blues, jazz-rock and avant-garde music mixed with British humour, but also an excellent slice of psychedelic rock in the vein of Syd-era PINK FLOYD. All this would become the trademark of many Canterbury bands.

Other late 60s albums such as PROCOL HARUM's "Procol Harum" & The MOODY BLUES' "Days Of Future Passed" excelled in unconventional song structures and overarching thematic concepts which came to characterize the era of 1966-75. These bands incorporated classical (a style of prog called "symphonic") elements in their music through the use of classical instruments (flutes, violins, cellos, harpsichord, etc.) plus the rise of the Mellotron and Moog synthesizers. Soon some notable practioners (primarily between 68 and 69) began taking suit and bands like KING CRIMSON, GENESIS , VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR (VDGG for short) and YES found overwhelming popularity in the 1970s. KING CRIMSON's "In The Court Of The Crimson King" from 1969 is generally considered the starting point for the "progressive movement."

PROCOL HARUM
"Procol Harum" - September 1967

PROCOL HARUM developed a fresh new sound with some of the best keyboards (piano for Brooker and Hammond organ for Fisher) and a guitarist extraordinaire in Robin Trower. They are rightly revered as one of the precursors of Progressive Rock (alongside the MOODY BLUES and THE NICE) because their music had less British psychedelia and had more in common with what would be Progressive Rock. As for the music, the style of the album is typical of the imaginative music being produced in 1967… a fusion of blues/jazz, rock with touches of folk, classical influences and unforgettably surreal lyrics. A great START, but there was more to come...!

Proto-Prog - Part I

Progressive rock is generally accepted as having appeared in the United Kingdom around the second half of 1967. It was manifested in post-psychedelic bands that evolved into a new hybrid genre, born of the mixing of rock music with classical and neo-classical elements by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Copland, Bartok and Stravinsky - in other words, an early form of symphonic/rock hybrid. A sizeable number of "concept albums" relied on instrumentation that wasn't common to the rock of its day: symphony orchestras or synthesizers. Hammond organs and Mellotrons were especially prominent in many of these albums.

The main exponents of this were The NICE (featuring Keith Emerson on keyboards), The MOODY BLUES (“Days Of Future Passed”), and the Baroque-inspired classicism of PROCOL HARUM (“A Whiter Shade Of Pale” - literally “Bach and Rock”). KING CRIMSON’s “In The Court Of The Crimson King” (1969) is the first fully-developed example of this new genre, and the album that defines the true starting point for Symphonic Prog.

THE MOODY BLUES
"Days of Future Passed" - November 1967

Psychedelic rock is combined with the orchestral arrangements of the London Festival Orchestra (conducted by Peter Knight) to sound like the band’s own orchestra, using the band’s signature Mellotron string sounds, flutes, timpani and multiple "vocals." "Days of Future Passed," an ambitious and unique conceptual album, is a classical symphonic pop album (or proto-prog release) of the 60s that, on its own, created a road towards the symphonic rock movement. The concept of the album is a reasonably clever one, tracing "a day in the life," from dawn ("Dawn Is A Feeling") to night (the classic "Nights In White Satin"). "Days…" is essential listening for anyone interested in the Mellotron’s history, and is a good document of its era to boot.

THE NICE
"Ars Longa Vita Brevis" - February 1968

The NICE is the first offensive of scale of the piano/organ virtuoso Keith Emerson. He successfully realizes virtually from the outset a fusion between rock and classical music. With this second release, Keith Emerson presents the basis of his vision of progressive rock: an amalgam of rock and traditional music which is certainly pretentious, but which lacks neither ambition nor quality. This is one album to discover if you like EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER.

GILES, GILES & FRIPP
"The Cheerful Insanity Of Giles, Giles & Fripp" – September 1968

Two years before the famous album “In The Court Of The Crimson King,” Robert Fripp (guitar/vocals), Peter Giles (bass/vocals), and Michael Giles (drums/vocals) had recorded an insane disc on which one finds anything and everything, but also some of the first steps to what would later become KING CRIMSON. By any standards, "The Cheerful Insanity..." is one of the more eclectic albums in the repertoire of timeless rock... drawning upon folk, classical, psychedelic pop, and jazzy tinged music. Each track brings a fresh listening experience. Recommended, especially for the curious...!

PROCOL HARUM
| progressive rock | psychedelic | art rock |
‘’Shine On Brightly’’ - December 1968

With this album being more complex, PROCOL HARUM tried to break away from the "A Whiter Shade Of Pale'' syndrome, and achieved this rather well! … Without intending to make a pun on the title, "Shine One Brightly'' is a shining album, which finds its force in the balance of the contrasting styles of the musicians (Brooker/Fisher/Trower). This is an original English production which stands proudly alongside the efforts of other proto prog bands such as THE NICE or THE MOODY BLUES.

From 1963 to 1969, a different strain of progressive rock emanating from the rise of psychedelia in Britain was the Canterbury music scene, named after the town in Kent (England). The prototypical Canterbury band wandered through the WILDE FLOWERS from whom emerged half-dozen of the most freewheeling British bands of the early psychedelic period through to the post-psychedelic eras. The band served as the wellspring of the so-called Canterbury sound developed by bands such as the jazz-rock SOFT MACHINE (Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers) and the jazz folk rock CARAVAN (Pye Hastings, David & Richard Sinclair, Richard Coughlan).
Their debut albums fell somewhere in-between psychedelic elements and jazz influences (such as John Coltrane and Miles Davis) instead of classical music, as was the case with Symphonic Prog. Another well-known aspect of the Canterbury scene was the circular nature of personnel changes in the various groups such as GONG, HENRY COW, MATCHING MOLE, CAMEL, HATFIELD AND THE NORTH, not to mention the distinguished solo careers of Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers. The varied styles of the artists included rather hippy space rock (GONG), Rock In Opposition (RIO) HENRY COW, improvisational jazzy MATCHING MOLE, melodic progressive CAMEL, and of course, the incomparable diamonds : HATFIELD & THE NORTH and NATIONAL HEALTH.

CARAVAN
"Caravan" - October 1968

CARAVAN were not the first to arrive on the Canterbury scene; Richard Coughlan (drums), David Sinclair (keyboards) and Pye Hastings (guitar/vocals) had all come from the pioneering "Canterbury" outfit WILDE FLOWERS. The self-titled debut album finds all involved in fundamental form, producing an engaging, subtle mixture of poppy, mildly jazzy and psychedelic songs. This early offering from the "Canterbury" school was among the first to impart direction to the newly-emergent progressive music.

THE SOFT MACHINE
"Volume Two" - April 1969

Originally released in 1969 following the departure of Kevin Ayers, "Volume Two" was the first SOFT MACHINE album to feature the classic trio line-up of Mike Ratledge on organ, Hugh Hopper on bass, and Robert Wyatt on drums and vocals as the driving creative force. This album was the perfect bridge between the psychedelic pop music of the first album, and the jazz fusion jams of the third. English humour, dissonance, avant-garde, jazz, and the amazing Robert Wyatt as well! This is a melting pot of musical forms, wrestling order from chaos - in short, a visionary record that inspired a generation.

1968 saw the end of the hugely successful trio CREAM, who had given JETHRO TULL the template for their early work prior to their progressive period that started in the early 1970’s. TULL’S first album, "This Was" (1968) was not just a reference to where the band was, but probably the focal point of the period. The music found on this album is very reminiscent of type that could be found on hundreds of the standards of the British 60’s blues revival movement and R&B albums of the late sixties. After personal and musical differences, Mick Abrahams left to form the briefly successful ‘BLODWYN PIG". The remaining TULL boys embarked, with permanent guitarist Martin Barre, on the recording of the landmark album ‘Stand Up" (1969) that defined the blending of progressive sounds and folk elements. Throughout the '70s, the group's compositions grew ever longer and more elaborate, which didn't keep them from scoring 11 gold and five platinum albums.

JETHRO TULL
"This Was" - October 1968

On "This Was," the band were just beginning to develop their style. The interpretations of blues by guitarist Mick Abrahams and an interest in jazz, blues, classical folk and ethnic music forms (lead by vocalist & flautist Ian Anderson) here were brave and often challenging. Ian Anderson’s unique voice and his omnipresent flute give a very original color to this group who took a significant place in rock, folk and progressive music.

Unlike more melodic bands, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR were in many ways the most unique and original groups to emerge from the British "underground" music scene of the late 60s and early 70s. Their sound cannot be easily related to the archetypes of folk, blues, rock or jazz, despite the fact that it contains elements of all. The dark and very emotional voice of Peter HAMMILL, his stories, "mystical sciences," and the very personal music of the group constitue an alloy with an important place in the history of progressive music. Far below the standards of the next albums, "The Aerosol Grey Machine" was to become the most elusive of all of VDGG's releases.

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
"The Aerosol Grey Machine" - September 1969

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR's debut, "The Aerosol Grey Machine" (originally a Peter HAMMILL solo project), brought a new fresh stream which was much more complex than the other bands of this period. This album represents a new sound, tormented by its own demons (VDGG's roots are "hard prog"), which seems to be something of a leftover from the psychedelic years rather than the normal evolution that might have been expected.

Around this time, other groups were starting to build unique, sophisticated and inventive “sounds,” including EMERSON LAKE & PALMER, GENESIS, JETHRO TULL, KING CRIMSON, PINK FLOYD and YES. They became the “kings” of this musical realm in both composition and performance by pioneering a style of popular music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, primarily by British rock musicians. Forty years later, innumerable “progressive” groups would name these bands when laying claim to the “heritage” of progressive rock.

At this point, the "foundations" of Progressive Rock are solid.
The curtain can then fall on the Sixties.
Indeed, one has already entered the Seventies.

"The progressive rock movement began in Britain in the late 1960s and early 1970s branching off from the fields of psychedelic and underground rock... and it seems today to be one of the most interesting and widely overlooked musical phenomena of the 20th Century."

Progressive rock (also shortens to prog rock, or simply prog) is a form of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s, principally from the psychedelic movement - that somehow progressed beyond the constraints of traditional musical structures by adopting influences of from jazz-rock fusion ("fusion" in the U.S. & "jazz-rock" in the U.K.), classical, folk and world music. Progressive rock started from this plentiful field of emancipation compared to the gold rules of the "rock". It is through these various tendencies that many sub-genres later will be established : Canterbury, symphonic (probably the most famous names in prog), space rock, folk prog, Krautrock, Zeuhl, neo-prog, prog metal, post-rock, experimental etc…

The main defining characteristics and tendencies are that the compositions are more elaborate than the standard rock song structure of verse, chorus etc. Musicianship was often taken to the limit - and, indeed, many of innovative and open-minded bands in "prog rock" had their origins in the late 1960s art school of Britain. They were created to represent a philosophical approach to rock by experimenting with unusual musical instruments including wind sections (flute, saxophone) and string sections (violin, cellos, harpsichord, etc.), electronic experiments (MOOG & ARP synthesizers, the Mellotron, HAMMOND B-3 organ) and full orchestras. The arrangements incorporate stylisation based on jazzy theory, classical elements, world or even avant-garde music. The lyrics, where they exist, are often poetic, conceptual (musical "journey") or based in fantasy.

Another fundamental characteristic of this “cerebral” genre, is its universality (without any commercial or media support) : vibrant "progressive rock" communities span the globe, in South America, Japan, Western Europe (Italy, Holland, Sweden and where it all started, in the UK), Eastern Europe (Poland and Hungary), the USA and in Quebec, Canada with concerts, magazines and specialised distributors devoted to the cause of quality music.

With the advent of the World Wide Web, it is safe to assert that "Progressive Rock" is in full expansion, even though it will probably never again dominate the charts, destined to “progress” perpetually beyond the shallow silliness that has, for so long, been polluting the airwaves.

Progressive rock is not a genre, it is a state of mind which makes a point of being exceeded constantly with its particular musical characteristics, its sounds, its structures and its attitudes... and finally, progressive rock, for all these reasons, is only one kind (thus a limitation) moreover to add to the multiple faces of the record industry. The absurdity is however that in spite of the passion which pushes us towards this music, it is rather regressive .. is it not?

All intelligent music lovers should be made aware of the wonders of this style!

"You call yourselves progressive
I say it's all regressive
You think you can stand in judgement
So listen here and I'll remind you :

Preaching the converted
"cause it's all you know
Music's dead because
It"s all about the money now…"
(Preaching the converted - "Test Of Willis" - MAGELLAN 1995)

"Music speaks through one language but in many dialects."
(Tracts Promo Discipline Global Mobile 1996)

ProgLucky (Ronald Couture)
founder of progarchives.com
Quebec, CANADA

PROGRESSIVE ROCK is without any doubt, the style of contemporary music with the widest gamut of sub-genres and off-shoots, because it unites popular rock with a vast array of different partners, such as jazz, folk, opera, electronic, baroque and classical (mostly symphonic).

Born of the marriage between synthesizer technology and the spiralling pop-rock culture of the early 70s, with revolutionary bands like PINK FLOYD, GENESIS, YES and KINK CRIMSON to name a few, "Prog Rock" continues unabated to this day, with the FLOWER KINGS, PORCUPINE TREE, SPOCK'S BEARD and DREAM THEATER (comment, rather a limited selection, with metalic overtones. Perhaps a more diverse selection of current bands here?) as the torchbearers, into the new millennium. It has survived simply because it is the preferred musical domain of the classically trained musician, forging a style that insists on specific norms of structure and composition, challenging the creative vibe by constantly exploring newer and more ambitious frontiers, to go boldly beyond the parameters which restrict other modern music. Often a heady brew where older instruments (violin, flute, harpsichord and oboe) blend with modern electronic sounds, the whole held together with a typical rock rhythm section.

Another fundamental characteristic of this "cerebral" genre, is its universality (without any commercial or media support : vibrant "progressive rock" communities span the globe, in South America, Japan, in Western Europe (Italy, Holland, Sweden and where it all started, in the UK), in Eastern Europe (Poland and Hungary), in the USA and in Quebec, with concerts, magazines and specialised distributors devoted to the cause of quality music.

With the advent of the World Wide Web, it is safe to assert that "Progressive Rock" is in full expansion, even though it will probably never again dominate the charts, destined to "progress" perpetually beyond the shallow silliness that has, for so long, been polluting the airwaves.

All intelligent music lovers should be made aware of the wonders of this style!

Taken from FreeSon Rock
SPECIALIST IN METAL & PROGRESSIVE ROCK CDS
Montréal (CANADA)

Progressive Art: most beautiful small pockets of discs
Written by Pierre Dulieu, BELGIUM
Improved and adapated in English by Ian Alterman, USA

Progressive music, like other styles of music, is easily identified with the superb images reproduced on the CD covers (i.e., the covers of the booklets). Drawings, sepias, watercolours, photographs… Many of these images are taken from science fiction and fantasy (often including the books of J.R.R. Tolkien), but they all have something in common: they create a dream-like atmosphere. When "records" were still produced on vinyl, the most beautiful album covers were often "double" and, once unfolded, displayed vast frescos of 60 X 30 cm which showed the album's "direction" even more strongly.

Some of these original works are worth fortunes today and are sought by collectors. Reduced to the miserable size of a CD (12 cm), the covers have lost much of their impact, but have nevertheless retained much of their quality and emotional power: groups such as FLOWER KINGS, SPOCK'S BEARD, TRANSATLANTIC and DREAM THEATER always include "album cover" images that have a strong capacity to capture the attention of potential future listeners with a simple glance. And incidentally, if the desire takes to you to listen to the "wafers" hidden under these attractive album covers, do not hesitate to do so! It happens that the music rises to the level of the pictorial works which they inspired (and vice-versa!)

I- Hipgnosis: surrealism and mystification
II- Kim Poor: diaphanism
III- Paul Whitehead & Genesis
IV- Worlds of Roger Dean
V- Mark Wilkinson & Marillion
VI- Hugh Syme: exploiting the words
VII- Simon Williams: the carnival of the masks
VIII- Single works
IX- The changing
X- The Art of Ed Unitsky

Some of the most beautiful album covers of progressive rock were conceived by a firm of designers known as Hipgnosis. Founded in 1968 by Aubrey Powell and Storm Thorgerson (who met PINK FLOYD founder Roger Waters at Cambridge), Hipgnosis created the majority of album covers for PINK FLOYD, beginning with "A Saucerful Of Secrets," as well as album covers for many other groups, such as LED ZEPPELIN, Syd BARRETT and Peter GABRIEL.

Hipgnosis’ images are often photographs of landscapes strewn with strange objects arranged in order to create surrealist environments, always connected in one way or another to the music of the group or its lyrical texts. The example presented here is the cover of the LP "Elegy" by Keith Emerson’s group, The NICE, published in 1971 on the Charisma label. The photo was taken in the Moroccan desert after the team laid out the red balloons at the top of a dune and then carefully erased all traces of their footsteps. Simultaneously both clear and simple yet devious, it challenges the discoverer and invites further discovery.

Two of the most famous Hipgnosis album covers - both selected by Rolling Stone Magazine in its list of The Top 50 Album Covers of the Century - are PINK FLOYD's "Dark Side Of The Moon," with its prism diffracting the light against a black background, and LED ZEPPELIN's "Houses Of The Holy" (inspired by a famous novel of Arthur C. Clarke, "Children of Icare"), a photographic collage showing naked, innocent, fairy-like children climbing rocks towards the light and the end of the world. Hipgnosis was dissolved in 1983, but Storm Thorgerson continued to work under its name to create extraordinary album covers, among which are PINK FLOYD's "The Division Bell" (1994) and The CRANBERRIES' "Bury The Hatchet" (1999).

[ Storm Thorgerson WebSite ]

A Brazilian artist living in London, Kim Poor invented a technique of a painting containing glass beads melted on steel. Salvatore Dali, who met Kim Poor in 1974, was impressed by her ghostly style, which he described as "diaphanism." In the world of progressive rock, it was first seen in 1976 on the album cover of "Voyage Of The Acolyte," the first solo album by GENESIS guitarist Steve Hackett. (Ms. Poor is Mr. Hackett’s wife.) A superb watercolour, it was elected Album Cover of the Year in 1976, and the original artwork was displayed at the Thumb Gallery in London in 1979.

"Voyage Of The Acolyte" represents a gifted priestess, blind of premonition, crossing what could be the door of knowledge, leaving in the past a fixed medieval world. This allegory - with its pastel colors, winter environment and evanescence - invokes the Gothic and ethereal musical world of Steve Hackett, and expresses that world better than words might. In addition to other album covers for her husband, Ms. Poor has applied the diaphanism technique to books, lithographs, enamelled gouaches, and paintings, as well as providing magical illustrations for the lyrics of GENESIS "‘Genesis Lyrics," Sidgwick & Jackson, 1979 London). Affinities between these two worlds – the musical and the artistic - had already been established with GENESIS when the group recorded two songs - "Entangled" ("A Trick Of The Tail," 1976) and "Blood On The Rooftops" ("Wind And Wuthering," 1977) -inspired by the imagery of Hipgnosis artist, Colin Elgie.

[ Kim Poor WebSite ]

Although artist Paul Whitehead is also well-known for multiple achievements in the fields of music and cinema, he remains best-known for the album covers he created for GENESIS. The album cover of "Trespass" is among the most beautiful and surprising: at first glance evoking medieval world imagery, the front cover also contains a black line superimposed on the drawing like a gash. Only when the album cover is unfolded do we see that the line is the notch of a dagger seemingly embedded in the album cover. According to Whitehead, the notch and the knife are real. This dichotomy between the bucolic universe of the drawing and the brutal tear of the knife corresponds to the music of this album, wherein the peaceful innocence which prevails in the majority of the compositions is abruptly broken by "The Knife," one of the most aggressive songs ever recorded by the group.

The covers of the following albums - "Foxtrot," and, to a lesser extent, "Nursery Cryme" - continue to surprise by the revealing use of the "gate-fold" album cover: only when the covers are unfolded do we see the complete "direction" of the scene. It should be noted that Paul Whitehead is also the creator of two very beautiful album covers for the group VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR ("H to He, Who Am the Only One" and "Pawn Hearts"), which are more evocative of the world of science fiction.

[ Paul Whitehead WebSite ]