Progressive Rock Song

A Progressive Rock Song is a rock song that has complex musical structure, extended composition and conceptual themes.

• Context:
  • It can be played by a Progressive Rock Band.
  • It can (typically) showcase a high level of technical proficiency from the musicians.
  • It can (often) be part of a Concept Album that tells a story or explores a theme throughout the album.
  • It can include elements of Psychedelic Music, particularly in its use of atmospheric sound effects and innovative studio techniques.
  • It can be influenced by the artistic and experimental approach of Art Rock.
  • It can draw upon the improvisational elements of Jazz and the compositional complexity of Classical Music.
  • It can incorporate Electronic Music elements, particularly in later developments of the genre.
  • It can challenge the conventional boundaries of popular music through its ambitious scope and non-commercial orientation.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • "I've Seen All Good People Song" by Yes.
  • "Supper's Ready" by Genesis.
  • "2112" by Rush.
  • "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd.
  • "Karn Evil 9" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
  • "Thick as a Brick" by Jethro Tull.
  • "Echoes" by Pink Floyd.
  • "Starless" by King Crimson.
  • "The Court of the Crimson King" by King Crimson.
  • "Tarkus" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • a Pop-Rock Song.
  • a Grunch-Rock Song.
• See: Post-Progressive, Art Rock, Rock Music, Psychedelic Music, Progressive Music, Jazz, Folk Music, Classical Music, Krautrock, AllMusic, New-Age Music, Occult Rock.

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References

2024

• (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/progressive_rock Retrieved:2024-1-7.
  • Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom, United States, and Germany through the late 1960s and early 1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an emergence of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its "progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing.

    Progressive rock is based on fusions of styles, approaches and genres, involving a continuous move between formalism and eclecticism. Due to its historical reception, the scope of progressive rock is sometimes limited to a stereotype of long solos, long albums, fantasy lyrics, grandiose stage sets and costumes, and an obsessive dedication to technical skill. While the genre is often cited for its merging of high culture and low culture, few artists incorporated literal classical themes in their work to any great degree, and only a handful of groups, such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Renaissance, purposely emulated or referenced classical music.

    The genre coincided with the mid-1960s economic boom that allowed record labels to allocate more creative control to their artists, as well as the new journalistic division between "pop" and "rock" that lent generic significance to both terms. It saw a high level of popularity in the early-to-mid-1970s, but faded soon after. Conventional wisdom holds that the rise of punk rock caused this, but several more factors contributed to the decline. Music critics, who often labelled the concepts as "pretentious" and the sounds as "pompous" and "overblown", tended to be hostile towards the genre or to completely ignore it.After the late 1970s, progressive rock fragmented in numerous forms. Some bands achieved commercial success well into the 1980s (albeit with changed lineups and more compact song structures) or crossed into symphonic pop, arena rock, or new wave.

    Early groups who exhibited progressive features are retroactively described as "proto-prog". The Canterbury scene, originating in the late 1960s, denotes a subset of progressive rock bands who emphasised the use of wind instruments, complex chord changes and long improvisations. Rock in Opposition, from the late 1970s, was more avant-garde, and when combined with the Canterbury style, created avant-prog. In the 1980s, a new subgenre, neo-prog, enjoyed some commercial success, although it was also accused of being derivative and lacking in innovation. Post-progressive draws upon newer developments in popular music and the avant-garde since the mid-1970s.

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