History Lesson, Part 3

Continued from Yesterday

Classic Era, Part 2: Expansion and New Directions
As the early 70s gave way to the mid 70s, prog was in full bloom. Now that the form was established, the major developments were the rise of new bands, disbandment or reshaping of old ones, and the fruition of international prog rock. The Big Six became less important during this time. In 1974, King Crimson broke up, and Yes and Genesis went on hiatus and had lineup and direction changes after they returned (’77 and ’76, respectively). ELP had a hiatus until ’78 without a lineup change. While Tull continued through the mid 70’s, they had lineup changes and their albums are generally considered to be not quite as strong as their pre-1974 work. Only Floyd, with strong efforts in Wish You Were Here (1975) and Animals (1977) went through the mid 70s much the same as the early.
In the wake of this, other bands emerged in British prog. Camel, perhaps the best known of these, released the transcending Mirage (1974) and all instrumental The Snow Goose in 1975. Although German, the band Eloy played in a British space rock style with English lyrics and is well known for psych prog albums like Ocean (1977). Other bands that were of lesser importance before the decline of the Big Six became better known. Gentle Giant had released music since 1970 in the prog folk and later symphonic vein, but achieved more recognition in the mid 70s. Many minor bands produced a single well known album at this point.
Prog found new strength overseas. Germany’s prog scene grew by inventing electronic prog. This style is simply electronic music, but with progressive structure and form. Synthesizers are used heavily. Tangerine Dream became the most famous of these bands. Initially an ambient unit bordering on prog, TD started to innovate more heavily and use the Mellotron synthesizer to great effect. Phaedra (1974) and Rubycon (1975) stand up as their greatest. Klaus Schulze became one of prog’s few solo acts on his prog-electronic albums. Frenchman Jean-Michelle Jarre is also associated with this style, especially on 1976’s Oxygene. Krautrock became less prominent in Germany at the time, but still had a following, with bands like Neu!
Italy had a brief but very productive period of prog fever from 1972 until 1976. Italian style of prog followed Italian classical patterns, with little Jazz influence. The synthesizers made in Italy at the time also give their music a distinctive flavor. Most lyrics were in Italian, unlike the Germans, who sung in English about half the time. Unfortunately, Italian bands often disbanded after just one album. Those that lasted longer tended to gain the most notoriety. Some with longevity included Banco Il Muto Sorccorso, known for Darwin! (1972), and Il sono nato libero (1973). Le Orme, from Venice, gained fame for albums such as Felona e Sorona (1973), and Premiata Forneria Marconi, or PFM, was well loved for albums like Per un Amico (1972) and L’isola di Niente (1974).
The Unites States and Canada developed a prog scene at this time. Their style tended to have a more accessible, mainstream side to it. These albums are sometimes ignored by prog elitists, but often wrongly so. The heaviest prog activity in the States took place in the Midwest, while Quebec province produced a large share of Canadian prog. America’s best known prog acts of the age included Kansas, who’s Leftoverture (1976) produced the famed single “Carry on Wayward Son”. America, like Italy, had a high number of one-off bands. Canada’s prog pride and joy is undoubtedly Rush. Their signature falsetto from Geddy Lee and strong drumming from Neil Peart showcases itself on albums like 2112 (1976) and Hemispheres (1978).
Other areas saw prog grow. Dutch and Belgian prog grew larger and more extensive, France developed a grand-piano centered style that spread into Switzerland, Scandinavia developed a dark, heavy prog, Spain produced many symphonic albums, Japan and Brazil each had unique style. While Ireland, Australia and New Zealand barely experienced prog rock, each produced a band or two in a mostly English style. Prog had reached her peak.

The End of Classic Progressive Rock and Prog Today
Unfortunately, Prog started declining in 1977, especially in the Anglophone world. Groups like The Ramones and The Sex Pistols had brought Punk to the fore in Britain. Since the point of punk is rebellion, crime, sleaziness, and anarchy, prog and punk mentality clashed extensively. Punk won in the end, essentially killing prog in England for a five year period, and it has never fully recovered. From 1978 on, I consider Germany to be the home base of Prog. The United States had a similar decline, but Disco instead of punk did the damage. The rest of the world didn’t really see a sudden end of prog, just a slow devolution into neo-prog, alternative, and post rock.
However, when does the age of classic prog end? As mentioned before, besides the start of the classic age, there are few set dates in prog. This question is debated hotly amongst the progheads. The most common dates are: 1) 1977, with the advent of punk, 2) 1978, due to the horrendous Love Beach album by ELP, a commercial sell out of the most quirky prog band, 3) 1979, with the over-pretentious The Wall from Pink Floyd, and 4) 1982, when the group Asia released their s/t debut. The group consisted of prog veterans, and was pure pop music without a hint of prog. Personally, I prefer not one but a two date system. Since many areas of the world, especially Spain and Germany, were producing strong Prog into the early 80's, I can't bring myself to cut them off from the age of the classics. Yet, these regions got started later than Britan. Therefore, for this blog's purposes, 1969-1979 will be the classic age in Britain and America, and 1971-1982 marks the classic age of prog in the rest of the world.
A dark age of prog defined the decade from 1982-1992. The output of prog reduced itself to perhaps five percent or less of the golden age output. Former prog giants such as Genesis and Yes turned into pop groups. Prog was driven deep underground, where only a few bands produced records. The most acclaimed band of the period is Marillon, with albums like Script for a Jester’s Tear (1983) and Misplaced Childhood (1985) keeping prog rock alive. Germany, as the new home base, produced natable bands such as Orzic Tentacles (of whom I currently know very little about). During the period of the 80's. Genesis and to a lesser extent Yes found massive success as pop bands, having abandoned prog. King Crimson breifly reformed as a new wave group.
Suddently, a very brief breath of fresh air lifted the prog community during the mid 90’s, when Swedish group Änglagård released Hybris in 1992. Unsatisfied with the state of prog as it was, the group purchased synths and guitars only made before 1975, and produced a symphonic prog album similar to something of that time. This revitalized an interest in prog rock. Metal and prog soon mixed, and essentialy all prog rock currently produced is known as progressive metal. I for one, consider these only metal bands without the least bit progressive element to them. The age of prog metal began in 1995, and bands like Dream Theatre, Tool, and Opeth have become the most famous.
Today, ELP is long gone, and Pink Floyd is no more with the death of Rick Wright (though in practice, they've been gone since 1995.) King Crimson has remained together, but has not toured recently. Genesis still exists as a pop band. Yes has retrned to thier prog roots, and still tours, as well as Jethro Tull. Since all of the major players of the classic prog area are over 60 thankfully, prog has a low drug casualty rate), it's hard to find them in concert, but many still play. Prog festivals are held in many places of the world.


Well, thanks for enduring all the basic training. Next time, I'll start acctually recomending music! Until then, Prog on, my friends.