1966–1970: Origins Background, roots, and etymology rehearsing in the studio with producer
George Martin, 1966 In 1966, the level of social and artistic correspondence among British and American rock musicians dramatically accelerated for bands like
the Beatles,
the Beach Boys and
the Byrds who fused elements of
cultivated music with the
vernacular traditions of rock. Progressive rock, originating in the later 1960s, was inspired by
progressive pop groups from the 1960s: those who combined rock and roll with various other music styles such as Indian
ragas,
oriental melodies and
Gregorian chants, like the Beatles and
the Yardbirds. The Beatles'
Paul McCartney said in 1967 that the band "got a bit bored with 12 bars all the time, so we tried to get into something else. Then came Dylan,
the Who, and the Beach Boys. ... We're all trying to do vaguely the same kind of thing". The term
progressive here refers to an intentional break from the more standard, predictable, and popular conventions of rock music of the time. Rock musicians started to take their music more seriously, paralleling earlier movements in jazz (such as how
swing gave way to
bop, a shift appealing to smaller but devoted audiences). In this period, the
popular song began signalling a new possible means of expression that went beyond the three-minute
love song, leading to an intersection between the "underground" and the "establishment" for listening publics. Hegarty and Halliwell identify the Beatles, the Beach Boys,
the Doors,
the Pretty Things,
the Zombies,
the Byrds,
the Grateful Dead and
Pink Floyd "not merely as precursors of progressive rock but as essential developments of progressiveness in its early days". According to musicologist
Walter Everett, the Beatles' "experimental timbres, rhythms, tonal structures, and poetic texts" on their albums
Rubber Soul (1965) and
Revolver (1966) "encouraged a legion of young bands that were to create progressive rock in the early 1970s". Dylan's poetry,
the Mothers of Invention's album
Freak Out! (1966) and the Beatles' ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) were all important in progressive rock's development. and which in turn influenced the Beatles when they made
Sgt. Pepper. Dylan introduced a literary element to rock through his fascination with the
Surrealists and the
French Symbolists, and his immersion in the New York City art scene of the early 1960s. The trend of bands with names drawn from literature, such as
the Doors,
Steppenwolf and
the Ides of March, were a further sign of rock music aligning itself with high culture. Dylan also led the way in blending rock with folk music styles. This was followed by folk rock groups such as the Byrds, who based their initial sound on that of the Beatles. In turn, the Byrds' vocal harmonies inspired those of
Yes, and
British folk rock bands like
Fairport Convention, who emphasised instrumental virtuosity. Some of these artists, such as
the Incredible String Band and
Shirley and
Dolly Collins, would prove influential through their use of instruments borrowed from world music and
early music.
Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper Pet Sounds and
Sgt. Pepper, with their lyrical unity, extended structure, complexity, eclecticism, experimentalism, and influences derived from classical music forms, are largely viewed as beginnings in the progressive rock genre and as turning points wherein rock, which previously had been considered dance music, became music that was made for listening to. Between
Pet Sounds and
Sgt. Pepper, the Beach Boys released the single "
Good Vibrations" (1966), dubbed a "
pocket symphony" by
Derek Taylor, the band's publicist. The song contained an eclectic array of exotic instruments and several disjunctive key and modal shifts. Scott Interrante of
Popmatters wrote that its influence on progressive rock and the psychedelic movement "can't be overstated". Martin likened the song to the Beatles' "
A Day in the Life" from
Sgt. Pepper, in that they showcase "the same reasons why much progressive rock is difficult to dance to". Although
Sgt. Pepper was preceded by several albums that had begun to bridge the line between "disposable" pop and "serious" rock, it successfully gave an established "commercial" voice to an alternative youth culture and marked the point at which the
LP record emerged as a creative format whose importance was equal to or greater than that of the single.
Bill Bruford, a veteran of several progressive rock bands, said that
Sgt. Pepper transformed both musicians' ideas of what was possible and audiences' ideas of what was acceptable in music. He believed that: "Without the Beatles, or someone else who had done what the Beatles did, it is fair to assume that there would have been no progressive rock." In the aftermath of
Sgt. Pepper, magazines such as
Melody Maker drew a sharp line between "pop" and "rock". Americans increasingly used the adjective "progressive" for groups like
Jethro Tull,
Family,
East of Eden,
Van der Graaf Generator and
King Crimson.
Proto-prog and psychedelia According to
AllMusic: "Prog-rock began to emerge out of the British psychedelic scene in 1967, specifically a strain of classical/symphonic rock led by
the Nice,
Procol Harum, and
the Moody Blues (
Days of Future Passed)."
Farandole (Arlésienne Suite No 2. Movement 4) and parts of the Nice's
Ars Longa Vita Brevis. The latter, along with such tracks as "
Rondo" and "
America", reflect a greater interest in music that is entirely instrumental. ''Sgt. Pepper's
and Days'' both represent a growing tendency towards
song cycles and suites made up of multiple
movements.
Focus incorporated and articulated jazz-style chords, and irregular off-beat drumming into their later rock-based riffs, and several bands that included jazz-style
horn sections appeared, including
Blood, Sweat & Tears and
Chicago. Of these, Martin highlights Chicago in particular for their experimentation with suites and extended compositions, such as the "
Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" on
Chicago II. Jazz influences appeared in the music of British bands such as
Traffic,
Colosseum and
If, together with
Canterbury scene bands such as
Soft Machine and
Caravan. Canterbury scene bands emphasised the use of wind instruments, complex chord changes and long improvisations. Martin writes that in 1968, "full-blown progressive rock" was not yet in existence; however, albums were released by three bands who would later come to the forefront of the music: Jethro Tull, Caravan and Soft Machine. The term "progressive rock", which appeared in the liner notes of Caravan's 1968
self-titled debut LP, came to be applied to bands that used classical music techniques to expand the styles and concepts available to rock music. The Nice, the Moody Blues, Procol Harum and Pink Floyd all contained elements of what is now called progressive rock, but none represented as complete an example of the genre as several bands that formed soon after. Almost all of the genre's major bands, including Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Yes,
Genesis,
Van der Graaf Generator,
ELP,
Gentle Giant,
Barclay James Harvest and
Renaissance, released their debut albums during the years 1968–1970. Most of these were folk-rock albums that gave little indication of what the bands' mature sound would become, but King Crimson's
In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) and Yes'
self-titled debut album (1969) were early, fully formed examples of the genre.
1970s–1980s Peak years (1971–1976) performing
The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), the best-selling album of the entire progressive rock period Most of the genre's major bands released their most critically acclaimed albums during the years 1971–1976. The genre experienced a high degree of commercial success during the early 1970s. Between them, the bands Jethro Tull,
ELP,
the Moody Blues, Yes, and Pink Floyd had five albums that reached number one in the US charts, and sixteen that reached the top ten.
Mike Oldfield's
Tubular Bells (1973), an excerpt of which was used as the theme for the film
The Exorcist, sold 16 million copies. were one of the most commercially successful progressive rock bands of the 1970s. They are seen here performing in 1992. Progressive rock came to be appreciated overseas, but it mostly remained a European, and especially British, phenomenon. Few American bands engaged in it, and the purest representatives of the genre, such as
Starcastle and
Happy the Man, remained limited to their own geographic regions. This is at least in part due to music industry differences between the US and Great Britain. and
Rush, the eclectic psychedelia of
Spirit, the hard rock of
Captain Beyond, the
Southern rock-tinged prog of
Kansas, the jazz fusion of
Frank Zappa and
Return to Forever, and the eclectic fusion of the all-instrumental
Dixie Dregs. British progressive rock acts had their greatest US success in the same geographic areas in which British heavy metal bands experienced their greatest popularity. The overlap in audiences led to the success of
arena rock bands, such as
Boston,
Kansas, and
Styx, who combined elements of the two styles. released a number of Progressive rock albums from the late 1960s to the late 1970s, the most famous of which was the album
Moontan, featuring the hit
Radar Love. Progressive rock achieved popularity in Continental Europe more quickly than it did in the US. Italy remained generally uninterested in rock music until the strong Italian progressive rock scene developed in the early 1970s. Progressive rock scene emerged in Yugoslavia in the late 1960s, dominating the
Yugoslav rock scene until the late 1970s. Few of the European groups were successful outside of their own countries, with the exceptions of Dutch bands like
Focus and
Golden Earring who wrote English-language lyrics, and the Italians
Le Orme and
PFM, whose English lyrics were written by
Peter Hammill and
Peter Sinfield, respectively. Some European bands played in a style derivative of English bands. In Germany, the "
krautrock" scene is frequently cited as part of the progressive rock genre or an entirely distinct phenomenon. Krautrock bands such as
Can, which included two members who had studied under
Karlheinz Stockhausen, tended to be more strongly influenced by
20th-century classical music than the British progressive rock bands, whose musical vocabulary leaned more towards
the Romantic era. Many of these groups were very influential even among bands that had little enthusiasm for the symphonic variety of progressive rock.
Avant-prog Avant-prog (originally known as
avant-garde progressive rock or
experimental prog) is a subgenre of progressive rock that emerged in the 1970s. Originally pioneered by artists such as
Frank Zappa and
Captain Beefheart, the genre was further developed by the London
Canterbury scene and later
Rock in Opposition movement. The style drew influences from
avant-garde music,
modern classical,
avant-garde jazz,
experimental rock,
jazz fusion and
psychedelic rock. French band
Magma later merged the style with
orchestral and
neoclassical music, which they coined "
zeuhl". Among these musicians were
Sly Stone,
Stevie Wonder,
Marvin Gaye,
Curtis Mayfield, and
George Clinton. In discussing the development,
Bill Martin cites 1970s albums by Wonder (
Talking Book,
Innervisions,
Songs in the Key of Life),
War (
All Day Music,
The World Is a Ghetto,
War Live), and
the Isley Brothers (
3 + 3), while noting that the Who's progressive rock-influenced
Who Are You (1978) also drew from the soul variant. Dominic Maxwell of
The Times calls Wonder's mid-1970s albums "prog soul of the highest order, pushing the form yet always heartfelt, ambitious and listenable".
Decline and fragmentation Political and social trends of the late 1970s shifted away from the early 1970s
hippie attitudes that had led to the genre's development and popularity. The rise in
punk cynicism made the utopian ideals expressed in progressive rock lyrics unfashionable. Virtuosity was rejected, as the expense of purchasing quality instruments and the time investment of learning to play them were seen as barriers to rock's energy and immediacy. There were also changes in the music industry, as record companies disappeared and merged into large
media conglomerates. Promoting and developing experimental music was not part of the
marketing strategy for these large corporations, who focused their attention on identifying and targeting profitable
market niches. believed that the prog movement had gone "tragically off course". Four of progressive rock's most successful bands – King Crimson, Yes, ELP and Genesis – went on hiatus or experienced major personnel changes during the mid-1970s. Macan notes the September 1974 breakup of King Crimson as particularly significant, noting that Fripp (much later) referred to 1974 as the point when "all English bands in the genre should have ceased to exist". More of the major bands, including Van der Graaf Generator, Gentle Giant and
U.K., dissolved between 1978 and 1980. Many bands had by the mid-1970s reached the limit of how far they could experiment in a rock context, and fans had wearied of the extended, epic compositions. The sounds of the
Hammond,
Minimoog and
Mellotron had been thoroughly explored, and their use became clichéd. Those bands who continued to record often simplified their sound, and the genre fragmented from the late 1970s onwards. In
Robert Fripp's opinion, once "progressive rock" ceased to cover new ground – becoming a set of conventions to be repeated and imitated – the genre's premise had ceased to be "progressive". The era of record labels investing in their artists, giving them freedom to experiment and limited control over their content and marketing ended with the late 1970s. Corporate
artists and repertoire staff exerted an increasing amount of control over the creative process that had previously belonged to the artists, and established acts were pressured to create music with simpler harmony and song structures and fewer changes in meter. A number of symphonic pop bands, such as
Supertramp,
10cc,
the Alan Parsons Project and the
Electric Light Orchestra, brought the orchestral-style arrangements into a context that emphasised pop singles while allowing for occasional instances of exploration. Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant and Pink Floyd opted for a harder sound in the style of
arena rock. Few new progressive rock bands formed during this era, and those who did found that record labels were not interested in signing them. The short-lived supergroup U.K. was a notable exception since its members had established reputations; they produced two albums that were stylistically similar to previous artists and did little to advance the genre. Part of the genre's legacy in this period was its influence on other styles, as several European guitarists brought a progressive rock approach to
heavy metal and laid the groundwork for
progressive metal.
Michael Schenker, of
UFO; and
Uli Jon Roth, who replaced Schenker in
Scorpions, expanded the modal vocabulary available to guitarists. Roth studied classical music with the intent of using the guitar in the way that classical composers used the violin. Finally, the Dutch-born and classically trained
Alex and
Eddie Van Halen formed
Van Halen, featuring ground-breaking whammy-bar, tapping and cross-picking guitar performances that influenced "
shred" music in the 1980s.
Commercialisation Some established artists moved towards music that was simpler and more commercially viable. Arena rock bands like
Journey,
Kansas,
Styx,
GTR,
ELO and
Foreigner either had begun as progressive rock bands or included members with strong ties to the genre. These groups retained some of the song complexity and orchestral-style arrangements, but they moved away from lyrical mysticism in favour of more conventional themes such as relationships. These radio-friendly groups have been called "prog lite". Genesis transformed into a successful pop act, the prog supergroup
Asia (consisting of members of Yes, King Crimson, and ELP) scored a number-one album in 1982, and a re-formed Yes released the relatively mainstream
90125 (1983), which yielded their only US number-one single, "
Owner of a Lonely Heart". One band who remained successful into the 1980s while maintaining a progressive approach was Pink Floyd, who released
The Wall late in 1979. The album, which brought punk anger into progressive rock, was a huge success and was later filmed as
Pink Floyd – The Wall.
Post-punk and post-progressive Punk and progressive rock were not necessarily as opposed as is commonly believed. Both genres reject commercialism, and punk bands did see a need for musical advancement. Author Doyle Green noted that
post-punk emerged as "a kind of 'progressive punk. Post-punk artists rejected the high cultural references of 1960s rock artists like the Beatles and Bob Dylan as well as paradigms that defined rock as "progressive", "art", or "studio perfectionism". In contrast to punk rock, it balances punk's energy and skepticism with art school consciousness,
Dadaist experimentalism, and atmospheric, ambient soundscapes.
World music, especially African and Asian traditions, was also a major influence. Progressive rock's impact was felt in the work of some post-punk artists, although they tended not to emulate classical rock or Canterbury groups but rather
Roxy Music, King Crimson, and German
krautrock bands, particularly
Can,
Neu!, and
Faust as key inspirations.
Punishment of Luxury's music borrowed from both progressive and punk rock, whilst
Alternative TV, who were fronted by the founder of the influential punk fanzine ''
Sniffin' Glue''
Mark Perry, toured and released a split live album with
Gong offshoot
Here & Now. The term "
post-progressive" identifies progressive rock that returns to its original principles while dissociating from 1970s progressive rock styles, and may be located after 1978. Martin credits
Roxy Music's
Brian Eno as the sub-genre's most important catalyst, explaining that his 1973–77 output merged aspects of progressive rock with a prescient notion of new wave and punk. New wave, which surfaced around 1978–79 with some of the same attitudes and aesthetic as punk, was characterised by Martin as "progressive" multiplied by "punk". Bands in the genre tended to be less hostile towards progressive rock than the punks, and there were crossovers, such as Fripp and Eno's involvement with
Talking Heads, and Yes' replacement of Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson with the pop duo
the Buggles. When King Crimson reformed in 1981, they released an album,
Discipline, which Macan says "inaugurated" the new post-progressive style. The new King Crimson line-up featured guitarist and vocalist
Adrian Belew, who also collaborated with Talking Heads, playing live with the band and featuring on their 1980 album
Remain in Light. According to Martin, Talking Heads also created "a kind of new-wave music that was the perfect synthesis of punk urgency and attitude and progressive-rock sophistication and creativity. A good deal of the more interesting rock since that time is clearly 'post-Talking Heads' music, but this means that it is post-progressive rock as well."
Neo-prog A second wave of progressive rock bands appeared in the early 1980s and have since been categorised as a separate "
neo-prog" subgenre. These largely keyboard-based bands played extended compositions with complex musical and lyrical structures. Several of these bands were signed by major record labels, including
Marillion,
IQ,
Pendragon,
Pallas and
Twelfth Night. Most of the genre's major acts released debut albums between 1983 and 1985 and shared the same manager, Keith Goodwin, a publicist who had been instrumental in promoting progressive rock during the 1970s. The previous decade's bands had the advantage of appearing during a prominent
countercultural movement that provided them with a large potential audience, but the neo-prog bands were limited to a relatively niche demographic and found it difficult to attract a following. Only Marillion and
Saga experienced international success. Neo-prog bands tended to use
Peter Gabriel-era
Genesis as their "principal model". They were also influenced by
funk,
hard rock and
punk rock. The genre's most successful band, Marillion, suffered particularly from accusations of similarity to Genesis, although they used a different vocal style, incorporated more hard rock elements, and were very influenced by bands including
Camel and Pink Floyd. Authors
Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell have pointed out that the neo-prog bands were not so much plagiarising progressive rock as they were creating a new style from progressive rock elements, just as the bands of a decade before had created a new style from jazz and classical elements. Author Edward Macan counters by pointing out that these bands were at least partially motivated by a nostalgic desire to preserve a past style rather than a drive to innovate.
1990s–2000s Third wave performing in 2007 A third wave of progressive rock bands, who can also be described as a second generation of neo-prog bands, emerged in the 1990s. The use of the term "progressive" to describe groups that follow in the style of bands from ten to twenty years earlier is somewhat controversial, as it has been seen as a contradiction of the spirit of experimentation and progress. These new bands were aided in part by the availability of personal computer-based
recording studios, which reduced album production expenses, and the
Internet, which made it easier for bands outside of the mainstream to reach widespread audiences. Record stores specialising in progressive rock appeared in large cities. The
shred music of the 1980s was a major influence on the progressive rock groups of the 1990s. Some of the newer bands, such as
the Flower Kings,
Spock's Beard and
Glass Hammer, played a 1970s-style symphonic prog, but with an updated sound. A number of them began to explore the limits of the CD in the way that earlier groups had stretched the limits of the vinyl LP.
Progressive metal Progressive rock and
heavy metal have similar timelines. Both emerged from late-1960s psychedelia to achieve great early-1970s success despite a lack of radio airplay and support from critics, then faded in the mid-to-late 1970s and experienced revivals in the early 1980s. Each genre experienced a fragmentation of styles at this time, and many metal bands from the
new wave of British heavy metal – most notably
Iron Maiden – onwards displayed progressive rock influences.
Progressive metal reached a point of maturity with
Queensrÿche's 1988 concept album
Operation: Mindcrime, Voivod's 1989
Nothingface, which featured abstract lyrics and a King Crimson-like texture, and
Dream Theater's 1992
Images and Words. Progressive rock elements appear in other metal subgenres.
Death metal's
guttural vocals are sometimes used by bands who can be classified as progressive, such as
Mastodon,
Mudvayne and
Opeth.
Symphonic metal is an extension of the tendency towards orchestral passages in early progressive rock. Progressive rock has also served as a key inspiration for genres such as
post-rock,
post-metal and
avant-garde metal,
math rock,
power metal and
neo-classical metal.
New prog New prog describes the wave of progressive rock bands in the 2000s who revived the genre. According to
Entertainment Weeklys Evan Serpick, "success stories like
System of a Down and up-and-comers like the
Dillinger Escape Plan,
Lightning Bolt,
Coheed and Cambria, and
the Mars Volta create incredibly complex and inventive music that sounds like a heavier, more aggressive version of '70s behemoths such as Led Zeppelin and King Crimson."
Wider influence The turn of the millennium also saw the rise of a number of bands to mainstream success who, whilst not explicitly identifying as progressive rock, have incorporated influences from it and embraced an experimentalism and complexity in their music which has been regarded as being in keeping with the genre's traditions.
Radiohead have been embraced by some progressive rock fans and musicians, with Rush's
Geddy Lee declaring
OK Computer as one of his favourite albums and arguing that they carried on the torch from bands like Yes and Genesis. Radiohead's drummer
Philip Selway has cited King Crimson and Pink Floyd as influences, and the band's eclectic and experimental style has drawn on a range of sources, including jazz, electronic music, art rock, krautrock, post-rock and the work of
Captain Beefheart.
Tool and King Crimson have acknowledged each other as influences and toured together. Other bands embracing progressive influences include
Muse and
Mansun, whose second album
Six has been listed as a favourite British rock album of Porcupine Tree's
Steven Wilson, who has collaborated and toured with former Mansun frontman
Paul Draper. Ween's 1997 album
The Mollusk has also been noted for its progressive rock influences, complete with
Storm Thorgerson-designed cover art.
2010s–2020s The Progressive Music Awards were launched in 2012 by the British magazine
Prog to honour the genre's established acts and to promote its newer bands. In 2019, the Prog Report named
Mike Portnoy and
Neal Morse artists of the decade for 2010–2019. During this time, Portnoy released 40 albums, 24 of them with Morse, while Morse released an additional 5 albums of his own. During the
COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Prog Report launched a virtual concert,
Prog From Home, bringing together many of the biggest artists active in the genre. On April 3, 2022, "The Alien" won a
Grammy Award for
Best Metal Performance, giving
Dream Theater their first Grammy. ==Festivals==