Etno, proge, latin ›

PROGRESSIVE ROCK — a style that combines rock, classical, psychedelic and literary elements — was born in the late '60s with art-rock bands like Pink Floyd and King Crimson, whose albums typically featured 7 to 10 minutes songs with shifting time signatures and evolving musical themes.
 
From the 60's through to the start of the new millennium, there have been masses of excellent musicians/groups arriving and departing the scene, and during that time we have seen a few sensational, ground breaking outfits come along from all corners of the globe. Dream Theater, Arena, Ayreon, The Flower Kings, Glass Hammer, Porcupine Tree, RPWL and Spock's Beard are just a few examples of superb 90’s bands that have made a massive impact on the ‘Prog’ scene. Some started out with strong influences from the 70’s and later developed more individual styles as they grew, and these groups are now out-selling the older major players from the earlier phases of the movement.
 
Of the 'big-name' acts from ‘Phase 1’, the obvious main players are still around and thriving - 70’s bands like Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, Caravan, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Le Orme, Pink Floyd and Yes still attaining a large and loyal fan-base. ‘Phase 2’ saw bands like Camel, Eloy, IQ, Marillion, Pallas and Pendragon arrive on the scene in the 80's, and they too are also still operating today. We hope you enjoy your browse through thirty years of progressive rock history when you visit our ‘Progressive’ all selected from a main DATABASE that currently stands at a total of 6,683 worldwide available titles.
 

 
A planet where quite much progressive rock music played in earth. Can, Caravan, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Jethro Tull , King Crimson , Genesis, Magma, PFM, Pink Floyd, Rush, Marillion, Yes, the much-discussed newscomers Arena, IQ, Pendragon, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and many other bands come from there. One of the most defining characteristics of prog is the classification of bands and artists. There are various sub-genres of progressive rock (or "prog", as it is sometimes abbreviated). People can (and will) argue for hours about whether this or that band belongs in this or that sub-genre. This list below is just a simple outline of the characteristics of each sub-genre, and by NO means a strict guideline. Remember, this is not a definitive list.
 
SUB-GENRES
 
Art Rock Canterbury / Jazz Fusion / RIO Krautrock

Supertramp Caravan Can
 

 
Psychedelic/Space Progressive Rock Symphonic Progressive Rock Zeuhl

Pink Floyd Genesis Magma
 
Progressive Rock
Various Artists — Albums or CD's where more than one artist is featured either as a SAMPLER or a TRIBUTE to a particular band. Examples: - Peter and The Wolf - Prog Fairytale - 1975 / The Reading Room - 2000 / Leonardo - The Absolute Man - 2001 / Best Prog Rock Album in the World... Ever - 2003 / Un Voyage En Progressif Volume 1 to 8 / Kalevala - A Finnish Progressive Rock Epic.
 
Art Rock (Symphonic Prog is often refereed to as Art Rock) — A name that is used to refer to early explorative work that had roots in popular music.Very structured and even adventurous, sometimes hard or heavy, sometimes mellow, strong melodies, good hooks are an integral part of most of the material. Bands in this category can and have produced material falling into other categories as well. There may be moments of outright progressive rock but with more of a pop influence and certainly a tendency towards shorter songs. Examples: BE BOP DELUXE, early ENO, ROXY MUSIC.
Progressive Metal — Inspired by such prog rock bands like Rush or ELP, progressive metal appeared as a mix of prog rock, which was very popular in the 70s, and 80s heavy metal. First bands playing in this style were Queensryche and Fates Warning, but the term "progressive metal" gained its wide use only after the appearance of probably the most well-known prog metal band, Dream Theater in the beginning of the 90s. Long compositions with complicated structures and highly professional instrumental parts, concept albums and intellectual lyrics - that's what prog metal is all about. Combinations: Progressive power metal, symphonic progressive metal, symphonic progressive power metal Examples: Ayreon, Blind Guardian, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Queensryche, Rhapsody, The Gathering.
 
Canterbury / Jazz Fusion / RIO
Canterbury — More of a region in England where all these bands originated. Maybe the earliest form of progressive, Canterbury bands wallowed in complexity and sounded extremely English. The ideas resulting from this form of music were very original. Examples: Caravan, Gilgamesh, Soft Machine, and National Health.
 
Jazz-Fusion — Explorative jazz-rock - a fusion as the name suggests, maybe a little jazzier than most progressive music but rockier than most jazz. Quite an established and exciting genre with often virtuoso playing. Examples: Mahavishnu Orchestra, Brand X, Iceberg, Arti and Mestieri.
 
Rock in opposition (RIO) — A name coined by ex-Henry Cow drummer Chris Cutler . This type of music consistently defies categorization (exept for "RIO") and is extremely challenging and often hard to listen to. However, it is very rewarding in the long-run. The lyrical bent is often political, especially for bands Cutler has a hand in. Technically, bands like Art Zoyd and Univers Zero are RIO as they subscribe to Cutler’s broad musical ethic in its original conception. Examples: Henry Cow, Art Bears, Samla Mannas Manna, News from Babel, Thinking Plague, Etron Fou Leloublan.
 
Krautrock — Style of free-form rock originating in Germany in the early 70's. Taking an often minimalist and experimental approach, this form of progressive combines ambient sounds, tape loops, and guitar riffs, with lots of improvisation. The result is often eerie and unpleasant to the casual listener, but has a distinctive "cosmic" attribute all its own. It is a style that needs to be listened to, rather than heard. Examples: Can, Neu, Faust, Ash-Ra Tempel and Agitation Free.
 
Psychedelic / Space Progressive Rock
Psychedelic Progressive — Emerging in the mid-'60s, as British Invasion and folk-rock bands began expanding the sonic possibilities of their music. These groups confined themselves to the brief, concise verse-chorus-verse patterns of rock & roll, they moved toward more free-form, fluid song structures. Just as important, the groups began incorporating elements of Indian and Eastern music and free-form jazz to their sound, as well as experimenting with electronically altering instruments and voices within the studio. Bands range from early Pink Floyd, and Djam Karet, to newer artists like Phish and Ozric Tentacles. These days, psychedelic commonly informs music space rock and space fusion.
 
Space Progressive Rock — Like the above but with the jazz edge. Space rock tends to be jam-orientated, with synthesizer and guitar effects approximating that propulsive "interstellar traveller" sensibility of vintage science fiction films. Hawkwind is the genre’s key innovator. Examples: Hawkwind, Alien Planetscapes, Quarkspace, Amon Düül (the English lineup).
 
Space Fusion — A rough term given specifically to the superb band Gong for their unique blend of jazz fusion and extended sweeping ambience. Often very energetic and concentrating on long jams of psychedelic tinged soloing. Examples: Gong, Ozric Tentacles, Neo, Carpe Diem, some Djam Karet.
 
Symphonic Progressive Rock (Art Rock is often refereed to as Symphonic Progressive Rock) — This is the category where we find most of what we have come to know as progressive rock bands. The aspect of orchestration is the most important characteristic. Songs will be longish, contain extended solos for emphasis, changes in time and tempo, and more than any other category highlighted by strong dynamics and changes in mood. Very much an album oriented classification, like classical rock much was borrowed in terms of arrangement and structure. Lyrics involve many aspects, but typically more philosophical or fantasy oriented even in their telling of modern day subjects.
Folk Progressive Rock — A variety of music that took simple folk songs and did something quite new with them. There were many forms of this. Examples: Barclay James Harvest, Emtidi, Jethro Tull, Malicorne, Mellow Candle, Strawbs, Tempest, some Fairport Convention.
 
Italian Symphonic Progressive Rock — Indeed so much progressive music has emerged and continues to emerge from Italy that some people believe it belongs in its own sub-genre. Lyrics are almost entirely in Italian. Compositions sometimes follow traditional Italian arrangements and compositional style, some based on particular regions of Italy. However, Italian prog styles can, and do, also fall within all of the other sub-genres. Examples: Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM), Duty-Free Area, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Goblin, and Balletto di Bronzo.
 
Neo Progressive Rock — Symphonic rock done in a typically simplified or more commercial format. Often rich and melodious, but without the complexity of traditional progressive music. Mostly an '80s and '90s phenomenon. Examples: Marillion, IQ, Pendragon, Arena, Aragon, Jadis, Landmarq.
 
Zeuhl — A sub-genre of progressive rock created by the French band Magma that is really a unique and very challenging form of jazz fusion incorporating chanting, dissonance and loud rock. Stylistically there are elements of Bartok, Stockhausen, Duke Ellington, and blues shouting.
 
True, some of the more esoteric sub-genres have been left out here, but you can get a more complete list by checking out the Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock, which offers more sub-genre categories with further examples. The Ghostland progressive rock site also offers sub-genre explanations.
 
1. "The Progressive Rock Files" by Jerry Lucky
2. "Rocking the Classics" by Edward Macan
3. rec.music.progressive FAQ
 
TOP ALBUMS

 

Copyright © Prog Archives, All rights reserved.
 
Search Engine Optimization, Programming and Web Hosting
by iClic
 

 
Sovitaanko että se on progea , niin kaikilla on kivaa kun ne on progea.