Genre History - Progressive Rock

Progressive Rock, or Prog, has been coasting it’s way through the rock community since the mid 60’s. A sub genre of Rock, primarily made up of fusions of music including Jazz, Metal, Classical and Folk Rock Styles. During the mid 60s, a boost in creative and inspirational music climbed it’s way out of the clutches of the recording studios as more money and creative freedom were available for bands to branch out and test new styles. Prog Rock ditched the more Pop style that offered the beat to dance to, in favor of a more composition and critical eye for the music, instruments and sound. Even the length of songs began to grow as this gave the artist opportunity to be creative with the song and put as much influence, instruments and solos in as they wanted. Many musicians who favored the more Prog Rock style tended to have a higher skill in instrumental work, although this wasn’t the case for everyone. Prog Rock was more dedicated to the listener, rather than the dancer or the average concert goer. This boost in focus from beat to instrumental harmony was heavily influenced by the psychedelic era, pushing for more open concepts and experimentation among artists.  

In the Mid 60’s, bands such as the Beatles and The Beach Boys had arrived on the tail coats of the Hippie Era, a group already known for it’s experimentation and wild concepts as well as the psychedelic drug scene of underground London. Bands no longer wanted to stick to the same thing, the same format or the same chord progressions of the Pop music that so many enjoyed. They wanted something different, something that could expand your mind with both lyrical concepts and wild instrumental concepts. As said by the Beatles Paul McCartney, “We got a bit bored with 12 bars all the time, so we tried to get into something else.” The Beatles and many other bands such as the Doors, Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd to name a few are accredited as being some of the beginning bands, or the precursors of Progressive Rock. With their experimental set ups, and almost poetic lyrics, they began the movement of what would develop over time.  

Prog Rock had decided to side itself with “High Culture”, to not appease to the masses of listeners, but to appeal to those who had a higher understanding of the process it took to make music. This can be seen by the progressive rate of bands naming themselves after things such as book titles and poems. These bands wanted to blend both the rock genre and other genres of old in order to break from the same monotonous love, death and sadness songs that already existed in abundance. The first technical coined term for Prog Rock had been in 1968, the Caravan’s self-titled LP written in the notes of said album. This soon became the applied term to describe bands who used classical elements and techniques to to expand the Rock genre.  

By the early 70’s, many Prog Rock bands had begun to release their more popular albums, seeing and success in the commercial music industry. Bands like Pink Floyd had already reached number one in the US musical charts, and many more reaching in the top ten charts. Even though Prog Rock was still primarily enjoyed by the American and European music communities, it became appreciated by many other countries overseas, though still wildly more successful in the US and Europe. Each location enjoyed the bands that derived from each other’s countries, but there were noticeable differences between the two locations in the Prog rock genre. For instance, in the US, Prog Rock tended to be rooted more in a blues and jazz background, while Prog Rock in the European countries was more based on classical influences.   Over time, the Hippie like culture and attitudes of the 60’s began to decline, setting up for new social and political changes to both the country and the music it produced. Punk Rock came into play, inciting cynicism and anarchy against the expressive and utopia idealism of prog rock. The concept of learning a instrument to it’s fullest, finding the best instrument of the best, and dedicating yourself to creating all that instrument could provide fell to the way side. Punk Rock, based more so in the expression of rejection of the norm, energy and availability for all made it easy for many people to jump in on the Rock genre as whole. There were other changes to the music industry that shaped the way music was created and distributed as smaller record labels were sold and merged, giving way to the larger conglomerates of the media. These music conglomerates wanted to focus more on the money making aspect of music, wanting to promote and spread the “popular” bands to better make a buck. This put an almost halt to the Prog Rock genre as these companies were no longer focused on selling the new and experimental musics they were producing. Many bands saw changes during these times, many splitting up, going on hiatus or changing the way they sounded as a whole. Many musicians in the Pro Rock community had already made comment on how far the experimentation the genre could even go, and even fans had been made bored of the long winded and epic songs. By the time the 80’s rolled around, Prog Rock had become stale, and was no longer a movement of progression, but a continuation of the same wild sounds and monotony they had tried to escape to begin with.  

When the 80’s arrive, Punk Rock was in full swing. Record labels no longer cared about investing time and money into artists that were not out to make the music that sold well to the masses, and this left the still remaining Prog Rock bands in the dust. There was also a build up in record labels taking over creative freedom of the bands they produced, wanting the control of what was sent out into the public. Though some creative influences were still occasionally allowed, those moments were often watered down expression that would have never been considered to live up to the standard of Prog Rock. Though Prog Rock was not forgotten, many bands taking influences on their styles just as Prog Rock had done before them. With creative freedom no longer free, record labels in control of the reigns, Prog Rock fell more into the underground and unknown during the majority of the 80’s. Some previously labeled Prog Rock Bands such as Journey, Kansas and Styx had been able to keep in the lime light as they had also been labeled Arena Bands. These artists had a strong following, thus allowing their continuation during these years. Though they ended up catering more to the masses with their music, what little creativity they held ended up getting them later labeled as Prog Lite.  

At the end of the anarchist style Punk Rock years of the 80’s, Punk too fell into a post-era. Punk Rock fell to it’s own Progressive movement after it’s downfall, almost mimicking the actions of Prog Rock. The similarities in their goals being anti-commercialism and rejection of the norm made them fit very well together in such a post-era setting. Many post-Punk rock bands were heavily influenced by the works of Prog Rock as far as the experimental tones went, excluding the addition of classical influences. These Prog Punk Rock bands were perceived as the Neo-Prog Rock, a second wave of progression. In the 90’s, Progressive Rock had a new wave of Prog Rock bands crop up, a third wave. During this time, the term Progressive Rock became incorrect to use on the older bands that had proceeded it ten to twenty years prior. Many considered them to no longer be the progressive, experimental groups they had claimed to be as the new wave of technological advances helped with a new subset of experimentation.  

With the 90’s came more computer based music, and production. With the advent of the personal computer, many bands were able to make, produce and distribute their albums all on their own with little cost. A new wave of record stores began to open with the rise of the compact disk. With musicians testing the capabilities of the CD, and so many coming into production, there was almost a need for a record store dedicated to nothing but progressive rock as a whole. New Prog, came to be in the advent of the 2000s with bands such as System of a Down, Cohen and Cambria and many more. Their sound was more dark, heavier and very aggressive in their approach.  

Progressive Rock has become a constant in the world of Rock, as bands are always looking to take Rock into new directions and new heights. With the constant discovery of new ways to produce sound and the need to be different, Prog Rock will never truly disappear.