Bill Bruford: The Autobiography

Another blog first: a book review. I just got done reading Bill Bruford's autobiography, published in 2009 as he was retiring from the stage.In 350 pages, Bruford muses over his story with typical English humor and numerous anecdotes.

Rather than being some sort of chronological tale, Bruford categorizes things by topic. Loosely. Each Chapter starts off with a F.A.Q., anf the sections of the chapter range from highly relevant to the question to mercilessly off topic. He also spends almost no time on Yes, with probably no more that 20 or 30 pages on the subject. Bruford instead opts to focus on King Crimson and his solo carrer in jazz. If anything, Bruford makes his life story out to be one of a slow musical growth from rock into jazz, the music that truly captivates him. Therefore, if you're just reading for stories about days of prog rock glory, you'll probably not find this a great read.

However, the book is not that. It is an excellent read. In its passages one gets to see the true mentality of a Prog Rock musician, what it quests for, and the end result. In the end of it all, Bill Bruford's journey led him to leave Yes because he felt he couldn't continue to grow as a musician there, leave King Crimson for the same reason, and retire at his peak. All throughout, Bruford is witty, approachable, and somewhat self depreciating. I'd have liked to read a bit more about the Prog Rock days, but this was an excellent on sight purchase at the book store. Grade: B+.

King Crimson- Larks' Tongues in Aspic

King Crimson is always best remembered for In the Court but right along side that masterpiece stands 1973's Larks Tongues in Aspic. By this time guitarist Robert Fripp was the sole remaining member of both the Original King Crimson and the most recent lineup. After mutating from Sympho-Prog to Jazz Prog, Fripp decided to reinvent King Crimson as a Hard Prog band. To do so, he recruited Bill Bruford of Yes (drums), John Wetton of Family (Bass/Vocals), David Cross (violin), and Jamie Muir (mixed percussion) to create the new sound. As with the prior member Peter Sinfield, lyricist Richard Palmer James is credited as a member but does not play on the album. The results of this experiment were something nearly as revolutionary as the first record.

The album starts out with the first of a two part instrumental Title Track, divided up into 13 and 7 minute segments. Marimba opens the album in a very low key and peaceful way, before a section of menacing violin takes over. Then, out of nowhere, one of the most bad ass riffs in rock music period drops on you like a brick, only to withdraw just as suddenly. From there, things go nuts with all kinds of percussion, guitar and bass riffs and assorted effects rapidly changing melody, harmony, tempo, chord, and timbre. This is pure musical chaos, and is strikingly beautiful. Then, it all calms down and fades away. "Book of Saturday", the next song, is a prog quickie, it's just a nice melodic rock song (with lyrics this time), calm after the storm of sorts. Afterwards, we have the great "Exiles", which revisits the Medieval themes seen on the In The Court and Lizard albums. This time, however, it is more subtle and soundtrack like, fleshed out wonderfully by Cross's violin. This piece is, in my opinion, the best of Crimson's entire career, which is a very big accomplishment.

Side B opens with "Easy Money", the last of the 3 tracks featuring Wetton singing. As you can probably guess, this song attacks money and greed in society. As far as the structure, it's not all that progressive, though its lack of a chorus means it's firmly not pop. The guitar dominates the instrumentation with some repeated riffs. Afterwards comes "The Talking Drum". If the album has a weak spot, this is it. While not bad, the endless percussive rhythms that are the entire song do get a little tiring sometimes. Last up is "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Pt 2." This section has more structure than the first, but is just as insane and aggressive. Here, the guitar and drums just smash up everything in a barrage of notes.

Between the two parts of the title track, King Crimson mange to do so many different progressive things in the hard rock context it's incredible. Once again the leaders, this album is the first step towards the eventual rise of Prog Metal. In addition to that, there's some subtlety and melody that juxtapose and work wonderfully together. Larks' Tongues in Aspic is one of the most intelligent and creative prog albums I've ever heard, and to these ears it trumps even In the Court of the Crimson King by the thinnest of margins.

Overall, this is a phenomenal piece of experimentation and rhythm, and shows many of Prog's great extremes without sounding jumbled or overwrought. Do not miss this one. Grade: A+.

King Crimson- In the Court of the Crimson King

It is a rare occurrence that an album sounds so fresh, so revolutionary, 40 years after it is released. To do so it must posses something revolutionary, something spectacular. In the Court of the Crimson King manges to accomplish this seemingly without effort. When they evolved out of the trio Giles, Giles, and Fripp in 1969, a new chapter in rock music began. Robert Fripp (guitar), Greg Lake (bass/vocals), Michael Giles (Drums), Ian MacDonald (Woodwinds), and Peter Sinfeild (In-band lyricist) created this album at the tail end of psychedelia, and took the progressive tendencies of that genre to make a focused and fully progressive album for the first time.

While no longer all that ambitious by '69, the tracks here all last between 6 and 12 minutes. The album begins with the incredible "21st Century Schizoid Man", King Crimson's signature. This song is immensely heavy for 1969. The vocals are caustically distorted into a raspy electronic wail, and to go along is an instantly memorable riff and a general zaniness. Despite this aggression, "Schizoid" actually manages to be somewhat catchy. Look out for the wild sax from MacDonald and the stop-start section for more creativity gone amok. Next up is "I Talk to the Wind", a much more placid number. The vocals this time are more relaxed and natural, whereas instead of aggressive sax and electric guitar, we have tranquil flute and acoustics. It all works to set a very "open mountain air" tone, and the melody is genius. "Epitaph"then plays. This song, simply put, is one of man's greatest musical achievements ever. The lyrics are absolutely phenomenal:

The wall on which the prophets wrote/Is cracking at the seams.
Upon the instruments of death/The sunlight brightly gleams.
When every man is torn apart/With nightmares and with dreams,
Will no one lay the laurel wreath/As silence drowns the screams.

Sinfeild took his time on this one. The instruments only increase the effectiveness of the piece, by creating and eerie medieval mood. I adore the troubadour-like guitars mixing in with the horror-film soundtrack noises from the rest.

Side two contains "Moonchild", which is another highly ethereal, highly distorted lullaby of a song. It has two and a half minutes of a children's tale, followed by nine and a half minutes of minimalism with "elven" noises. This lull of a song works together with the final track, "The Court of the Crimson King", by easing the listener along to let the opening chord menace even more. To wrap up, we have the true epic. In 9 minutes, it goes through fantasy verses, social commentary, and philosophy, all while the instruments create a thrilling mood similar to "Epitaph." Truly inventive stuff at the time, as no one had put all the parts together without sounding pretentious until then.

Is it really possible not to understate the influence of this album? It hit number 5 on the UK charts, which is an accomplishment in itself. The symphonic tendencies of "Epitaph"and "The Court of the Crimson King" would find an outlet with many prog converts like Yes and Genesis as well as new bands like ELP and Camel. Meanwhile, the hard edge of "Schizoid Man" parallels some Krautrock to come, as well as the RIO movement. The free-from of "Moonchild" would help that sub genre as well as prog electronic and jazz-prog come to the fore, and "I to the Wind" shows it's influence in the prog-folk realm. Not to mention the perfectly fitting cover art, which was one of the first of it's kind.

It would be almost heresy for a prog blog not to give In the Court of the Crimson King a Grade of A+. This one's essential, everyone should hear this before they die.

King Crimson- Red

Time for an album by King Crimson, the godfathers of prog. Or, in this case, father. By 1974, Crimson had been through numerous lineup changes, with guitarist Robert Fripp the only common thread between them. Red, the 7th studio album and 3rd in the heavy period, consisted of a three member lineup. Fripp had assembled a 5 piece consisting of himself, John Wetton (ex-Family, bass, vocals), Bill Bruford (ex- Yes, drums), David Cross (violin), and Jamie Muir (drums), although after 1973’s Lark’s Tongues in Aspic, Muir left, and Cross followed suit after Starless and Bible Black (1974). Red, released later that year, continued the hard rock/ prog rock mix of the other two, with the heaviest results. All songs are 6-12 minutes.

To start off, we have the instrumental title track. “Red” uses a reoccurring riff over and over, and has little variation. However, the song is not minimalistic, with occasional devotions from the main riff, which also cycle. On the whole, it’s not a very engaging song, despite rocking hard. Next up comes “Fallen Angel”. This song contains the only acoustic guitar on Red, having been a staple of the Crimson sound early in their career. Wetton sings on this track, and his voice suits it well, as it carries over the sparser instrumentation. “Fallen Angel” is the most typical song for King Crimson on Red, which is welcome after the hard rock drone of “Red”. Next up, “One more Red Nightmare” comes on to finish side A. Like “Red”, it repeats a riff, but with the use of vocals and more prominent drums, the guitar repetition annoys less. The song’s melody is fantastic, as well as all the instrumentation and singing. Former member Ian McDonald also guests to add sax.

Unfortunately, after this high comes the live improvisation “Providence” (named after the town where it was recorded.) Preformed while Cross was still a member, violin features prominently. While I respect the difficulty of improvisation, here it just goes on without really engaging. This is countered by the final track, “Starless”. Written by Wetton, this one has it all: interesting guitar/bass, lyrics, drums, more McDonald guest sax. It all comes together to create a creepy, somber mood in the beginning before all turning into a metal noisiest in the last 3 minutes. The clash is absolutely wondrous.

After completeing Red, Fripp disbanded King Crimson until 1981. When they returned, Wetton was gone, replaced by Tiny Levin, and second guitarist Adrian Belew also joined. They would be the first lineup to record two albums with no changes.

Many prog fans consider this one of the greatest albums of all time. I can’t say I agree. While “Starless” is one of the greatest songs of all time, and “Fallen Angel” and “One more Red Nightmare” does not slouch off either, “Red” and “Providence” sound too boring to me. I can ignore a misplaced note and give an album an A, but they take up 15 minutes of a 40 minute album.

Red is a good album, a worthwhile addition to a prog collection, but not essential.

Grade: C+

Intro, Definitions, and a History Lesson

Hey, all. I’ve decided to do something I’ve wanted to do for a while: write articles on my beloved progressive (prog) rock. Those of you that navigated here are all smart people, and I think you’ll really enjoy this music if you choose to explore it. Sorry for being such a dinosaur with my music tastes. I hope to do this at least monthly, maybe more. The schedule will be sporadic. Some articles will be in a list format, like Cracked.com or something up that vein. “10 Most Innovative Pink Floyd Songs”, “12 Great Prog Bands with Female Singers”, or “10 Best Prog Albums from Japan”, for example. Others will just be typical article fare. They normally won’t be anywhere near this long. However, I thought it right to just have a general overview of prog’s style and history as a good way to start. There are many key terms here, try to remember the styles more than bands or albums, as those can be jogged easier. Due to length, I'm publishing it in three parts. Do enjoy!
*Quick note, s/t means an eponymous album

What is Prog?

Progressive Rock, also known as Prog or Art Rock, is a subgenre of rock music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that intends to expand and retool the boundaries of traditional rock n’ roll. Prog rock integrates structures and instruments from jazz, classical and global music, and occasionally invents completely new elements. Lyrical concepts include fantasy, politically-charged, abstract, symbolic, literature-based, and existential topics rather than love and dancing (although the prog love song is still moderately common). The typical verse-bridge-chorus structure of pop music is distorted or eliminated. Large suites or melodies exceeding 10, 15, or sometimes even 20 minutes are a signature of prog rock. Musicians play with the timbre of the instruments, often in improvisation. The 4/4 rhythm we all know and love appears less frequently than in other music, with odd time signatures such as 7/4 and 11/8 occasionally making their way in. Melodic and harmonic structure gets toyed with, I-IV-V chord progression being very rare.

In addition to the actual structure of the progressive music, prog rock as a scene has other well defined elements. Progressive rock groups love concept albums. Album art and packaging tend to be visually pleasing and colorful, taking full advantage of the entire vinyl sleeve to add to the art as a whole. In fact, artist Roger Dean is famous almost solely for his prog album cover paintings, especially with Yes. Bands often deploy stage theatrics such as acting out the lyrics of their songs, laser and light shows, pyrotechnics, and all sorts of whimsy. Prog evolved in and is most closely associated with The United Kingdom, but Germany, Italy, the USA, Spain, France, Canada, and many other countries all had their own rich, unique prog scene, often influencing each other.

A Brief History of Classic Prog

In most genres of rock, it is hard to pinpoint an exact starting point for the music. After Bill Haley and the Comets released “Rock Around the Clock” in 1954, the rock n’ roll era steadily evolved through rockabilly, the British invasion, psychedelia, soul, hard rock, soft rock, funk, punk, new wave, metal, alternative, indie, and countless smaller phases. There are often set points, however, of when a genre went through a major change, the release of very famous albums, such as Elvis’s debut, or The Sex Pistol’s Never Mind the Bollocks (firmly established punk as the top subgenre for the next 3-4 years after its 1977 release.) Prog rock, however, is the opposite. The foundation for prog is near universally accepted with the release of King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King on October 5th, 1969. The key dates surrounding the lead up to this are much less clear, as are the dates when prog took major turns in direction and evolved.

Proto-Prog

What influences did King Crimson draw upon to found progressive rock? Which bands used progressive elements prior to October ’69? These questions are the basis of the examination of what is known as the Proto-prog era, lasting from either 1966 or 1967 until In the Court. Proto-prog is largely mixed and synonymous with the psychedelic age of rock. The bands of proto-prog mainly changed the mold of rock music toward the art rock scene through several key innovations: the double album, the tape loop, use of the Studio as an instrument, the concept album, and more inventive use of guitar and keyboard in their works.

While there is some debate of proto-prog beginning in 1966, this column will consider it to last from January 1967 to September 1969. Early on, key albums include The Doors’ self titled debut (1967), The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) and Abbey Road (1969), The works of Jimi Hendrix in ’67 and ’68, The Small Faces' Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake (1968), Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention’s Albums (1966-1969, his Freak Out! Being an exception to my ’67 date), and The Who’s Tommy (1969), amongst others.

These albums made major innovations to the structure and form of rock music. Jim Morrison, John Lennon, and Frank Zappa pioneered the use of dark, political, and unorthodox lyrics, removing the seeming requirement for rock to be about love gained, love lost, or peace and love. Meanwhile, The Beatles on Sgt. Pepper, with the help of producer George Martin, began to experiment with new studio trickery. Technological improvements to recording in the mid 60s led to a new ability to clean and polish the sound, allowing for more complex sounding material. Pioneering work by the Beatles in the field made for quick popularization of the new technique of using orchestral instruments in rock, employing 8 track tape recording, and the integration of non-rock influences into their music.

In addition to lyrical and structural changes, the actual form of playing morphed. Hendrix invented new, fiery guitar playing methods. His seamless hybrid of blues and technicality pervades progressive music, as it allows for lots of power and emotion to fly from the strings. Hendrix also pioneered guitar distortion, along with groups like Vanilla Fudge and Deep Purple. Other groups of the period such as the Doors and Jefferson Airplane started to develop the common rock instrument of the organ (it was a staple over the entire 1960’s before disappearing) into the modern keyboard. Jefferson Airplane also invented the light show, along with the then-unknown Velvet Underground (not the least bit a proto-prog group, they ironically became proto-punk, the genre which would end the age of classic prog).

As 1967 and 1968 continued, these influences began to grow all over rock and in the heart of the public. Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake became a major influence not only as being one of the most popular early concept albums, but with its packaging, as instead of the typical vinyl square, it came in a circular form with the vinyl inside. During this period, a future behemoth of prog had evolved, in the form of Pink Floyd, although their music was still mainly psychedelic, not quite yet full prog. Jethro Tull also existed as a blues band. In 1969, The Beatles made their second major contribution to prog’s evolution on Abbey Road, the segway of one song into another on the famed B-side medley, courtesy Paul McCartney. The Who’s rock Opera Tommy, released in June, was the bona- fide king of double concept albums up to that point, paving the way for record companies to be willing to release the prog album slew.

And then there was In the Court. This album gets its reputation as the first prog album for no small reason. King Crimson experimented with medieval classical structure in their songs “Epitaph” and “The Court of the Crimson King”. The lyrics of the album contain the full allegorical and fantasy elements of a prog album. Ian MacDonald played woodwinds on this album, adding the new experimental instrumentation to the scene. A whole article could be written on the influence and innovation of In the Court (Perhaps someday!)