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Description of Art & Progressive Rock

 
The idea of progressive (shortened to prog) rock came out of the psychedelic boom of the late '60s when the desire to experiment led musicians to incorporate classical elements and intellectual attitude in their music. Also referred to as art rock because of its desire to view individual tracks as pieces of a larger composition (like movements in a symphony), this oft-libeled form emphasized grandeur through technical prowess and fantastical imagery. Prog rock, in its most derisive connotation, refers to the mystical, multi-chaptered bombastic rock popularized by the keyboard-driven excesses of Emerson Lake & Palmer and the symphonic concept records of Yes. Prog rock can also be a blanket term that includes the rock opera of the Who, the jazz rock of the Soft Machine and Henry Cow, as well as the cosmic abstractions of Popul Vuh and Gong. It continues to exert a heavy influence upon newer electronic and experimental artists, while heirs to art rock's crusty throne, such as Ozric Tentacles and Melting Euphoria, keep its cloaked spirit alive.
 

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Art & Progressive Rock Key Artists

 
Amon Duul

Improv Psychedelic band
that formed from a '60s
Munich artist commune,
Amon Duul were one of the
first Krautrock bands.

Amon Duul II

Sci-fi psychedelia from
Germany, Amon Duul II
were members of the same
artist commune that
spawned Kraut rockers A...

Be-Bop Deluxe

British Prog band who
mixed Glam, Metal, pop, and
anything else leader/axe
master Bill Nelson could get
his hands on.

Brian Eno

Eno's many works, rich in
innovation and philosophy,
made him the most singular
influence on new sounds of
the '80s and '90s. Born Bri...

Camel

Classic '70s Prog rock
features strings and flutes
having sex with guitars and
a spaced-out proclivity for
the Psychedelic.

Can

Avant Garde '70s kings,
Can's music progressed
faster and further than the
rest. Rock, jazz, prog,
proto-punk, everything....

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Heavily orchestrated Prog
from the genre's original
supergroup. ELP's
ponderous excesses are
best typified by "Lucky M...

Faust

Groundbreaking Krautrock
outfit prone to sharp-angle
proto-punk songs and
expansive jam-noise.

Genesis

One of the first and longest
running Art/Prog bands,
Genesis' music has always
mixed orchestral themes
with pop and rock. Genes...

Gentle Giant

Medieval themes, Hard
Rock, and classical music
come together in the cult
favorite records of this
groundbreaking band.

Goblin

Italy's Goblin gave Dario
Argento's horror films their
sonic chills, via psyche
freakouts and scary
drones. Best known as a...

Gong

Australian Prog rock band
who were a major figure on
the Canterbury scene.
Their music sounds very
medieval.

Hawkwind

Sci-fi space-metal kings
Hawkwind take
intergalactic journeys
through the sacred rite of
guitars, synthesizer, drum...

Jethro Tull

Best known for the Classic
Rock staple "Aqualung,"
Jethro Tull has been doling
out prog-ish Hard Rock
since 1968. Tony Iommi pl...

Kevin Ayers

A key player in the
Canterbury music scene of
the late '60s, Kevin Ayers is
best known as a vocalist in
the Soft Machine. Kevin A...

Mike Oldfield

Oldfield is known for the
conceptual piece "Tubular
Bells" which also served as
the theme music to 1973's
"The Exorcist."

Nico

Nico was a musician, model
and actor born in Cologne,
Germany. Nico's avant pop
has made her an icon among
punks, indie rockers and...

Pink Floyd

The premier psychedelic
band of the 1970s, Pink
Floyd formed in 1965,
incorporating jazz and
insanity into their music....

Procol Harum

Procol Harum were
progenitors of the "classical
rock" movement after they
appropriated a melody from
Bach and rocked it. They...

Roxy Music

Roxy Music were a
groundbreaking group
whose early records
shaped the adventurous
side of the '70s, not to me...

Soft Machine

Soft Machine combined
psychedelia and Jazz Rock
into a ground breaking
conglomeration of
progressive, experimenta...

Spooky Tooth

Blues-fueled Hard Rock
from late '60s Britain.
Spooky Tooth delved into
Prog rock for a short period
before splitting up.

The Groundhogs

Tony McPhee's a better
singer than Clapton and just
as good a guitarist, yet he
and his band have always
been obscure. The Groun...

The Moody Blues

Classic pop-friendly Prog
rock from 1960s England.
The Moody Blues played
ornate, synth-heavy
trip-out rock for Baby Bo...

The Strawbs

The Strawbs were a British
Folk band who became a
Prog Rock band in the early
'70s. Sandy Denny was once
in this band.

Todd Rundgren

Famed producer and
songwriter, Runt's music
covers a ton of genres. He
started out with pop, then
went heavy prog. Todd R...

Utopia

Todd Rundgren's primary
Prog rock outfit that
morphed into
arena-packing, Hard Rock
band in the mid-1970s.

Yes

The O.G. of Prog Rock
bands, Yes practically
invented the genre in 1971
with "The Yes Album." Jon
Anderson was working as...

Electronics

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