Progressive Rock (widely referred to as Prog Rock) reached its peak of success and popularity in the 1970's. It is sub-genre of rock and many of the artists were highly recognized for their musicianship and technical prowess. It started with the Psychedelic Rock and Blues Rock bands of the 60's. Bands gradually started moving away from conventional song structures and song lenghts aswell as other things. The beatnik and hippie culture also played a big part in this as did the drug LSD. The popular 60's drug also known as Acid caused psychedelic trips which many bands used and it influenced their music. Prog groups started to make albums packed with long and complex songs.The Prog Sound:
Prog rock music normally avoids verse-chorus-verse-chorus structures found in popular music. Contrasts between sections are normally sharpened with changing dynamics. The large number of ideas within the music results in a lot of songs being very long, some even over 20 minutes in length. Lyrical topics about fantasy, surrealism and social commentary can be found in the genre. Expanding on the instruments commonly found in Rock music, Prog sometimes features violins, flutes, saxophones and also relatively new instruments at that period such as synthesizers and electronic effects units. Unusual time signatures and time signature changes are heard in Prog Rock aswell as Tempo changes, this adds to the experimental feel of the music. Instrumental songs were common place on many Prog Rock albums; Rush's "YYZ" is perhaps one of the most well known and popular Prog Rock instrumentals of all time.
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Concept albums and Artwork:
Many bands from a variety of genres have put out concept albums, however it is a rare thing to do in other genres but farely common in Prog Rock. A concept album is an album where all the songs are joined by a theme. The theme can be lyrical, narrative or instrumental. Album art and packaging within the Prog Rock genre is as important as the music. Lots of Prog Rock concept albums have cover art that relates to the story or theme of the music. One of the most prominent artists is Roger Dean who designed 22 album covers for Yes aswell as other bands like Uriah Heep, Asia and Budgie.
These are among some of the best and well recognized album covers in the Prog Rock genre:
Decline & Bands Going Commercial:
In the second half of the 1970s Prog Rock began to fade out. Records sales for most groups were down and Disco and Punk were emerging which took the public eye off Prog music. Later on some Prog groups put out less Progressive records and took a more commercial approach to their music. Rush released "Closer to the Heart" in 1977 and Yes released "Owner of a Lonely Heart" in 1983. Both were successful in the charts.
Influence:
The Prog Rock genre has went on to influence many bands. Progressive Metal groups like Queensryche and Dream Theatre combine Prog characteristics such as intricate structures, odd time signatures and long songs with the Heavy Metal genre. Thrash Metal bands Megadeth and Annihilator have some Progressive elements in their music such as dense and complex instrumental passages and long changing songs.
Important Albums:
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)
King Crimson's epic debut album is one of the strongest and most influential Prog Rock albums and often seen as the first true Prog Rock release.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970)
ELP's first album was the first release from the first Prog Rock 'supergroup'. Some of the songs on the album use note-for-note extracts from classical pieces by Bach and Bartok.
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Pink Floyd's sixth studio album is arguably their finest work & probably the most successful Prog Rock record with an estimated 45 million copies sold. It stayed in the charts for an amazing 741 weeks, longer than any other album in history.
