INDEX B - The development

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRESSIVE ROCK MUSIC
Written by Lucas Biela, France

I. Late 60s and beginning of the 70s

I would say it all began with psychedelic music, i.e., essentially Jimi Hendrix and early PINK FLOYD (all their stuff with Syd Barrett). Some people say that THE BEATLES also contributed to the prog movement. Then came bands such as KING CRIMSON and YES at the end of the Sixties. KING CRIMSON, along with VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR (VDGG), helped define a subgenre of progressive music called “hard prog” (“hard” referring to the tormented atmosphere of the combined music and lyrics. However, “In The Court Of The Crimson King” is symphonic prog). YES were playing symphonic prog, so called because of the use of a symphonic orchestra. GENESIS were already recording at the end of the Sixties, but their link to progressive rock was not yet defined. With the album “Trespass,” things became clearer about GENESIS. YES and GENESIS remain icons in symphonic rock music. Other bands followed their steps later: e.g., GENTLE GIANT and CAMEL, among others. At the same time as symphonic rock was developing in Great Britain, many Italian bands were writing and performing a similar type of music: e.g., BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO (BDMS), PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI (PFM), Le ORME, and QUELLA VECCHIA LOCANDA (QVL), among others. These two countries were the most prolific as far as progressive rock is concerned.

Let’s go back to England to focus on another subgenre that comes from the Canterbury country. CARAVAN defined that subgenre with their second album, and bands like HATFIELD AND THE NORTH, and later NATIONAL HEALTH, followed (plus a band that didn’t come from England, but from the USA: HAPPY THE MAN). The first GONG album (“Camembert Electrique,” featuring drummer Pip Pyle, who later joined HATFIELD and NATIONAL HEALTH) also belongs to this subgenre. Daevid Allen (who later founded GONG), along with Robert Wyatt, formed SOFT MACHINE, a band that could be regarded as belonging to the Canterbury scene for their first three releases, but which, with their next release (“Third”), turned to jazz-fusion, another subgenre that later included drummer Bill Bruford (who played with KING CRIMSON and YES) and BRAND X (featuring drummer Phil Collins from GENESIS) and, in the USA, Frank ZAPPA.

So, by the beginning of the Seventies, three subgenres of progressive rock were already established: symphonic (YES, GENESIS), Canterbury (CARAVAN, early GONG), and hard prog (KING CRIMSON, VDGG).

II. The 70s

After Syd Barrett left PINK FLOYD, their music became softer, with ethereal passages, thus defining a new subgenre: space rock. GONG were also following this path (but with humour) with “Angel Egg,” their best release to date. After the YARDBIRDS split, Keith Relf and his wife, Jane, formed the band RENAISSANCE, a group that blended folk music with progressive rock. Along with JETHRO TULL, RENAISSANCE helped define another subgenre: folk progressive. The popularity of RENAISSANCE grew after Annie Haslam replaced Jane Relf on vocals, and the band released the great “Scheherazade and Other Stories” in 1975. JETHRO TULL released “Aqualung” in 1971, an album that is considered a classic today, though I would more highly recommend the follow-up, “Thick As A Brick,” as an introduction to their contribution to the folk prog scene.

Another subgenre of progressive rock was also developing in the Seventies – art rock – led by such bands as SUPERTRAMP, ROXY MUSIC and 10CC. These groups were playing a “simpler” music than other progressive subgenres. In Germany, TANGERINE DREAM was playing a music based exclusively on electronic instruments, hence their music falls under the “Electronic” (or “New Age”) subgenre, although that subgenre may include many non-electronic instruments (as is the case with Mike OLDFIELD). VANGELIS and SYNERGY also belong to this subgenre.

Many of the German bands that appeared at the beginning of the Seventies were classified as “Krautrock,” an additional subgenre of progressive rock, which includes GROBSCHNITT, Amon DUUL, and ASH RA TEMPEL. A minimalist form of “electronic” music also appeared in the Seventies: ambient. Artists such as KRAFTWERK, Brian ENO and CLUSTER belong to this category. Moreover, in England, a new subgenre based on improvisation, with a jazz background, appeared in 1973 with the release of HENRY COW’s “Leg End.” This subgenre was labeled “Rock In Opposition,” or R.I.O.

Not to be forgotten is EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER (ELP), a band that gathered members from KING CRIMSON, ATOMIC ROOSTER and The NICE, whose albums (“Tarkus” often being regarded as their best) belong to a subgenre called “classical prog,” as they often feature songs that are adaptations of both well-known and obscure classical compositions (“Pictures At An Exhibition,” for example). The NICE and Rick WAKEMAN also belong to this subgenre. In North America, some groups mixed hard rock with progressive elements, creating a subgenre called “pomp prog,” as the intros and outros of some of their songs are “pompous.” RUSH and STYX are among the bands in this subgenre (KANSAS could also be added to this category, though they are also close to the English symphonic prog scene).

I mentioned previously the development of a jazz-fusion scene, with BRAND X (featuring Phil Collins), Bill BRUFORD and Frank ZAPPA (ZAPPA’s music could be considered as a unique subgenre, mixing jazz, doo-wop, rock, classical, etc.). Another band also strongly rooted in jazz, but including influences ranging from Karlheinz Stockhausen to Duke Ellington, via opera, is MAGMA, who created the Zeuhl subgenre, with a language intelligible only by them (“Kobaïa”).

So, at the end of the Seventies, we now have 10 subgenres in progressive rock: art rock, folk progressive, classical progressive, R.I.O., jazz-fusion, Zeuhl, ambient, electronic, krautrock, and pomp progressive.

III. The 80s

At the end of the Seventies, progressive rock was “supplanted” by the “punk” movement, a “music” which aimed to prove, among other things, that anyone could play music. “Punk” gave rise to the “cold wave” in the Eighties, and prog rock was reduced to what was called “neo-progressive” (a simpler form of symphonic prog, but with more “present” drums), and an embryo of what became, at the beginning of the Nineties, progressive metal. SAGA were probably the first to play neo-progressive rock, but MARILLION, IQ and PENDRAGON are the best representatives of this subgenre. Landmark albums include “Misplaced Childhood” (MARILLION), “Masquerade Overture” (PENDRAGON) and “Ever” (IQ).

IV. The 90s

The newest subgenre of progressive rock - progressive metal - became fully developed with DREAM THEATER’s “Images and Words.” However, some groups in the Eighties were already playing a heavy metal-based progressive music, including QUEENSRYCHE, FATES WARNING and WATCHTOWER. (Much thanks here is due to Mike Varney, who founded the prog label “Magna Carta” in the USA and the “Inside Out” label in Europe.)

Also in the 90s, SPOCK’S BEARD was playing a symphonic prog with references to GENTLE GIANT and GENESIS. ECHOLYN and IZZ were playing a music closer to neo-prog. In Northern Europe, a Scandinavian symphonic prog scene developed, with bands such as The FLOWER KINGS, ANGALGARD and SINKADUS. A post-R.I.O. scene also developed with DJAM KARET and THINKING PLAGUE, among others. There were also new groups playing jazz-fusion, including KENSO, CARTOON and DEUS EX MACHINA. As well, PORCUPINE TREE and OZRIC TENTACLES were playing space rock, and COLLAGE and CLEPSYDRA were playing neo-prog that was strongly influenced by IQ and MARILLION.

Thus, in the Nineties, you have a revival of the prog scene not only with the appearance of a new subgenre - progressive metal - but also with bands playing the styles developed in the Seventies.