Prog Rock
“Yes”, we like it! (pun intended)
In the late sixties and early- to mid-seventies, a rich progressive rock scene (or “prog rock”) emerged. It was enabled by the invention of the Moog synthesizer and advanced multi-track recording equipment. Musicians could now construct gorgeous rich, layered blankets of sound with novel, never-before-heard sonic textures. Suddenly the rock world was invaded by sophisticated, classically-trained musicians who brought us some of the most impressive songs and albums we’d ever experienced.
Prog rock pieces (hard to call them just “songs”) tended to run 7 or 8 to 20 minutes or even longer. Lyrics, when there were any, tended to be poetic and obscure, and often vaguely mythological. (Just try to read the lyrics from The Carpet Crawlers by Genesis. I double-dog dare you.) Astonishingly, for all their high-tech equipment and multi-track recording decks, all of these bands were incredibly successful at reproducing the album sound live in concert — a tribute to their excellent musicianship.
While many music enthusiasts loved the new groove, others were put off by the music’s complexity and what they felt was pretention.
Here is a tour of some of the biggest, most commercially successful bands and songs from the prog rock movement. All of the prog rock bands I knew were English, except for one Canadian band. But my AI lists plenty of European prog rock bands I never heard of.
Yes
The London band Yes scored two monster radio hits in 1971 with I’ve Seen All Good People from The Yes Album and Roundabout from Fragile. Both of these 7 to 8 minute pieces were edited down to 3 minutes for AM radio play. They didn’t show up on the radio again until their 1984 album 90125 which had modest hits with Leave It and Owner of a Lonely Heart, but they didn’t recreate the old magic.
Rush
Arriving in the late seventies near the end of prog rock’s heyday, Canadian band Rush scored big radio hits with Fly By Night, Closer to the Heart, The Spirit of Radio, Limelight, Tom Sawyer, and New World Man. Even if you are not a big Rush fan, you might be surprised by how many of these hits you recognize. It didn’t hurt that they mostly wrote radio-friendly 3- to 5-minute songs.
Rush made all their noise with just a trio: Geddy Lee (vocals, bass, keyboards including synthesizer), Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart (drums).
Rush, in my humble opinion, is one of few classic rock bands (prog or otherwise) that sound and perform just as well as “old guys” in the new century as when they started out. For example, the video above is from a 2010 performance; Geddy is 57 years old. (Sure, The Rolling Stones still perform, and perform well, but to me, they seem almost like a caricature of themselves in their heyday.)
Genesis
In the first half of the 1970’s, Genesis was a solid prog rock band with Peter Gabriel at vocals. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is the only thing you’ve ever heard from this period. (Unless you vaguely remember the eerie number The Carpet Crawlers. “You’ve got to get in to get out.”) As true prog rock, their albums from this period are — uh-hem, let’s just say inaccessible for most listeners.
After Gabriel left the band and went solo, Genesis reverted to their founding trio, Phil Collins on vocals and drums, Mike Rutherford on guitar and bass, and Tony Banks on keyboards. At that point, they turned from prog rock to pop, with radio-friendly hits like Turn It On Again and No Reply at All. (Mega-hits Sussudio and Against All Odds are Phil Collins solo projects, not Genesis.) I won’t provide links because these songs are decidedly not prog rock.
Fun fact: Lily Collins, star of the mega-hit Netflix series Emily in Paris, is the daughter of Phil Collins.
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
With albums names like Tarkus, Pictures at an Exhibition, Trilogy, and Brain Salad Surgery, who would ever call ELP pretentious? LOL! As albums the music was difficult, complex and — here it is again — inaccessible to the casual listener. But a few radio hits — Lucky Man, Still You Turn Me On, From the Beginning, and Karn Evil 9 (“Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends…”) — made ELP widely known. I feel sorry to folks who heard those tunes on the radio and went to an ELP concert expecting more of the same. 😮
King Crimson
King Crimson? King of Prog Rock is more like it! We’re talking hard-core, bizarro, inaccessible prog. In addition to 21st Century Schizoid Man, video above, you may recognize In the Court of the Crimson King, video top of page.
Interestingly, King Crimson has continued performing through the years, keeping it fresh with a changing lineup of musicians. Their most recent — and possibly final — tour was in 2021. The one constant is the highly respected guitarist and music producer Robert Fripp. Crimson plays a combination of prog rock and jazz fusion. Here’s 21st Century Schizoid Man in 2015:
Gentle Giant
I am totally unfamiliar with this band, though I remember hearing the name. The video makes it obvious that they are prog rock. Seems pretty un-listenable to me. They didn’t have any radio hits, but apparently they have a cult following.
My friendly AI also includes these other bands as prog rock, though I can tell you we didn’t think of them that way at the time: Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and even Supertramp and Kansas.
Can you believe all this was going on while disco music was taking over the culture?
