Progressive rock (often shortened to prog rock or prog) is a form of rock music born in the late 1960's as the result of limitless musical ideas and limited studio resources. Progressive rock is often defined as a more thought out and intellectual version of traditional rock and roll. The term progressive rock actually refers to progressing beyond the what was then thought to be generic standards of popular rock music, though now the term simply refers to the genres distinctive sounds itself.
Defining Progressive Rock[]
All genres of music are hard to define. Even once you have clearly set some standards for a genre, there will always be exceptions and differences. The same is true of progressive rock, and to a much farther extent than other genres. The similarities between an average 80s pop band are numerous and obvious, to the point where you could easily get two 80s one-hit wonder bands confused with each other. However, no one who is unfamiliar with progressive rock or 70s rock in general would believe that Jethro Tull and Camel are both the same genre. Instead of pointing out every aspect and feature of progressive rock, we can only define it as a genre by explaining the basic ideological and musical ideas that influenced them, as well as some basic similarities in instrumentation and technicality. For example, one key aspect of progressive rock is that it has many influences from other genres. However, some bands, such as Jethro Tull, have many influences from folk, as well as rock, while Camel has many influences from classical music. The bands are similar in the fact that they have such obvious influence, but different in that they are different influences, but they are both progressive rock. Some of the basic aspects of progressive rock include trying to progress past the current musical standards, usually through artistic and instrument-based details.
History[]
Progressive rock emerged from the sound experimentation era of the mid to late 1960's. Groups such as the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and The Moody Blues pushed the limit recording abilities to the limits and began making music later labeled as, "Progressive Rock" by the end of the 60's. The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, often regarded as the first concept album as well as the birth of album oriented rock was the first of several major breakthroughs in recording technology and progressive rock. By the end of the 60's rising progressive groups such as Genesis, Yes, and King Crimson had released the first true progressive rock albums, while others such as ELP and Rush released more prog rock albums early in the next decade. The 1970's saw the peak of progressive rock, although many of the genre's forerunners continuing to sell successful albums well into the 1980's. However by the late 70's to early 80's progressive rock saw a decline, many of the now veteran music groups splitting up, going through irreparable lineup changes or changes musical nature altogether. While true Progressive Rock is now a thing of the past, many bands labeled as "Neo-Progressive" groups have been forming as far back as the early 1990's.
Some bands combined the style of progressive rock with metal influences, creating progressive metal. These bands include Dream Theater, Opeth, Queensrÿche, Tool, and Symphony X, among others. All of these bands kept the art-based style of progressive rock, but combined it with styles of metal ranging from thrash metal to death metal. This created progressive metal, a subgenre of progressive rock. These bands started in the late 80s and 90s, and went on throughout the early 2000s. The most notable of these bands is Dream Theater, which broke into the public scene with the 1991 hit "Pull Me Under," and went on to create many more albums. Dream Theater is still touring and making albums as of 2022. Though progressive metal is not true progressive rock, but simply a similar subgenre, it is still an important part of progressive rock's history.