progressive rock - definition, genres & articles

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Some introduction articles

A definition of Progressive Rock MusicThe development of Progressive Rock MusicThe Progarchives.com sub-genres of Progressive Rock MusicAmazon.com Progressive Rock Books for sale

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The Story Of Helmut KoellenMy day in the studio with CaravanMy reviews blogRoger Dean artworkLyrics are hardProg Goes Punk

PROG SUB-GENRES: Canterbury Scene Crossover Prog Eclectic Prog Experimental/Post Metal Heavy Prog Indo-Prog/Raga Rock Jazz Rock/Fusion KrautrockNeo-Prog Post Rock/Math Rock Prog Folk Progressive Electronic Progressive Metal Psychedelic/Space Rock RIO/Avant-Prog Rock Progressivo ItalianoSymphonic Prog Tech/Extreme Prog Metal Zeuhl Various Genres/Artists Prog Related Proto-Prog

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POPULAR ARTISTS (TOP 50, LAST 24H) : Discipline Edison's Children Hawkwind Dream Theater Marillion Yes King Crimson Porcupine Tree Aquarium ThirdQuadrant Theater Of The Absurd Genesis Steve Hackett Frank Zappa Rush Camel White Willow Procol Harum The Flower Kings Pink Floyd Deep Purple Big BigTrain Legendary Pink Dots Eloy Gentle Giant Transatlantic Jethro Tull Emerson Lake & Palmer Caravan Van Der Graaf Generator Skeem Premiata Forneria Marconi(PFM) Tangerine Dream Thumpermonkey Lives! Hedvig Mollestad Trio Haken Jordan Rudess Nektar Sky Architect Airbag Shepherds Of Cassini Glass HammerViolent Silence Kompendium State Urge Glass Kites Daal Ayreon Gong Renaissance

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An Illustrated Guide to Prog Rock InstrumentsMy Personal Prog Collection Video blogDiscovering Australian ProgThe Infernal Prog Blog (with Conor Fynes)Colossal VoidsDHUBNMOMB: the most disgusting bass sounds in progUs and Them?Stephen's "Worth Listening To" blogFrippism's Spectacular Middle Eastern Blog ZoneAlan's Free [Prog.] Electronic BlogNgram Research and Prog2011 - the year of progBandnames of famous progressive rock bandsValue in Your Listening ExperienceThe Truth's Album of the Week BlogThe Meaning of ProgDefining Prog- The Eternal QuestionPekka Pohjola in memoriam (13.1.1952 - 27.11.2008)How to define and classify progressive rock?Is it all about the music - really?Slartibartfast's Magical Music Random Load BlogProggin' in communism: Prog in ex-YugoslaviaAn Illustrated History of A Band called GenesisA look at the best prog albums through the yearsRock & Roll is to Jazz as Punk is to Prog...There's no such thing as progEastern/South European Prog BlogPlease Self-Release Me, Let Me GoProg vs Progressive - Is there such a thing?An Odyssey Through Québécois' Progressive MusicProgressive Music as Objective MusicA journey through the Italianprog sceneGerman festival historyFanboyism in progressive rockOpinions Of An Apprentice- StreamsciosnessJapanese Progressive Rock presented by DamoXA Beginner's Guide to Proto-ProgThe Future of Rock MusicMusical Interpretations and Opinions: ObservationsCamel LiveEmotions with Prog and... Women!Fantasy story: Progressive QuestUnsigned Bands Q2/Q3 2008Anniversary synthesis on Klaus Schulze's careerFor the prog fan that is not a prog fanLearn to listen, listen to learn...The Hemispheres Of Heavy Prog


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On Musical Expression And Music As ArtThe Perfect Musical ExperienceOriginality - An observation by King By-TorMy opinions on various music I've recently heardPinning down your personal taste!Your Previous Quarter of a Year's Music BlogWhat is Prog?What makes Progressive Metal progressive?Music: family rivalry & rebelryWhat Happened To You?Unsigned Bands Q4 2007/Q1 2008prog bounds (some thought involved!)One of my introverted essaysThe Progress Report: Give us your ideas!Dream Theater and T. S, Eliot: An EssayThe Show that Never EndsThe Mythology of MagmaWe still promise the teeth! A look at post metalRPI and classic european trash cinemaI Talk To The Wind: Prog Blog and ReviewsPolitics as Prog RockMy story...introduction to prog.... and more...Beyond The Land Of Grey And PinkVibe's new King Crimson biographyMy Road to Prog EnlightenmentGong Essay for "Death as a Fact of Life"Crimson Commentaries 1991-98The Musical Journeys of Frederic L'EpeeGreat TrilogiesLive Prog-rock is DyingJazz Fusion: ambiguity in the term's use?Longest Tracks In ex-Yugoslavian Prog Rock Scene40 year heroesRush - Progressive Rock?My Defense of Modern MusicItalian Prog For Beginners - ReloadedOG's Blog - Black Rose Immortal : An AnalysisProg-metal for people who don't like prog-metalVangelis - Progressive By Default?The trials and tribulations of selling prog rock..Circle of hands, A Uriah Heep classic for allthe Greeks Dont Want No Freaks!Jefferson AirplaneDream Theater- Saviors of Prog Metal (A History)A walk through prog folkColossal Coliseum = ColosseumBelgian Chamber Prog scene


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Guidelines for a Helpful Art ReviewThe Uncarved Blog, part 1

More progressive rock related documents index writt en by PA collaborator

History of vintage keyboards currently used in prog rockIntroduction to KrautrockJazz Rock / Modern Jazz GenesisEthnic music and (in) progressive rock : a comparative analysisThe French Progressive Rock SceneBelgian Chamber Prog Rock SceneIncantation, secret energy and " enthusiasm " airs in third ear band's musicThe Experimental Electronic Wave of Progressive Rock

Progressive rock (often shortened to prog or prog rock) is a form of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostlyBritish attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." The term "art rock" is often used interchangeably with "progressive rock", butwhile there are crossovers between the two genres, they are not identical.

Progressive rock bands pushed "rock's technical and compositional boundaries" by going beyond the standard rock or popular verse-chorus-basedsong structures. Additionally, the arrangements often incorporated elements drawn from classical, jazz, and world music. Instrumentals were common,while songs with lyrics were sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based in fantasy. Progressive rock bands sometimes used "concept albums that madeunified statements, usually telling an epic story or tackling a grand overarching theme."

Progressive rock developed from late 1960s psychedelic rock, as part of a wide-ranging tendency in rock music of this era to draw inspiration from evermore diverse influences. The term was applied to the music of bands such as King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Soft Machine andEmerson, Lake and Palmer. Progressive rock came into most widespread use around the mid-1970s. While progressive rock reached the peak of itspopularity in the 1970s and early 1980s, neo-progressive bands have continued playing for faithful audiences in the subsequent decades.

Musical characteristics

Form: Progressive rock songs either avoid common popular music song structures of verse-chorus-bridge, or blur the formal distinctions by extendingsections or inserting musical interludes, often with exaggerated dynamics to heighten contrast between sections. Classical forms are often inserted orsubstituted, sometimes yielding entire suites, building on the traditional medleys of earlier rock bands. Progressive rock songs also often haveextended instrumental passages, marrying the classical solo tradition with the improvisational traditions of jazz and psychedelic rock. All of these tendto add length to progressive rock songs, which may last longer than twenty minutes.

Timbre (instrumentation and tone color): Early progressive rock groups expanded the timbral palette of the then-traditional rock instrumentation ofguitar, organ, bass, and drums by adding instruments more typical of jazz or folk music, such as flute, saxophone and violin, and more often than notused electronic keyboards, synthesizers, and electronic effects. Some instruments – most notably the Moog synthesizer and the Mellotron – havebecome closely associated with the genre.

Rhythm: Drawing on their classical, jazz, folk and experimental influences, progressive rock artists are more likely to explore time signatures other than


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4/4 and tempo changes. Progressive rock generally tends to be freer in its rhythmic approach than other forms of rock music. The approach takenvaries, depending on the band, but may range from regular beats to irregular or complex Time Signatures.

Melody and Harmony: In prog rock, the blues inflections of mainstream rock are often supplanted by jazz and classical influences. Melodies are morelikely to be modal than based on the pentatonic scale, and are more likely to comprise longer, developing passages than short, catchy ones. Chordsand chord progressions may be augmented with 6ths, 7ths, 9ths, and compound intervals; and the I-IV-V progression is much less common. Allusionsto, or even direct quotes from, well-known classical themes are common. Some bands have used atonal or dissonant harmonies, and a few have evenworked with rudimentary serialism.

Texture and imagery: Ambient soundscapes and theatrical elements may be used to describe scenes, events or other aspects of the concept. Forexample, Leitmotif is used to represent the various characters in Genesis' "Harold the Barrel" and "Robbery, Assault and Battery." More literally, thesounds of clocks and cash registers are used to represent time and money in Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.

Other characteristics

Technology: To aid timbral exploration, progressive rock bands were often early adopters of new electronic musical instruments and technologies. Themellotron, particularly, was a signature sound of early progressive bands. Pink Floyd utilized an EMS Synthi A synthesizer equipped with a sequenceron their track "On the Run" from their 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon. In the late 1970s, Robert Fripp, of King Crimson, and Brian Eno developedan analog tape loops effect (Frippertronics). In the 1980s, Frank Zappa used the Synclavier for composing and recording, and King Crimson utilizedMIDI-enabled guitars, a Chapman Stick, and electronic percussion.

Concept albums: Collections of songs unified by an elaborate, overarching theme or story are common to progressive rock. As songs by progressiverock acts tend to be quite long, such collections have frequently exceeded the maximum length of recorded media, resulting in packages that requiremultiple vinyl discs, cassettes, or compact discs in order to present a single album. Concepts have included the historical, fantastical, andmetaphysical, and even, in the case of Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick, poking fun at concept albums.

Lyrical themes: Progressive rock typically has lyrical ambition similar to its musical ambition, tending to avoid typical rock/pop subjects such as love,dancing, etc., rather inclining towards the kinds of themes found in classical literature, fantasy, folklore, social commentry or all of these. Peter Gabriel(Genesis) often wrote surreal stories to base his lyrics around, sometimes including theatrical elements with several characters, while Roger Waters(Pink Floyd) combined social criticism with personal struggles with greed, madness, and death.

Presentation: Album art and packaging is often an important part of the artistic concept. This trend can be seen to have begun with The Beatles' Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and played a major part in the marketing of progressive rock. Some bands became as well known for the artdirection of their albums as for their sound, with the "look" integrated into the band's overall musical identity. This led to fame for particular artists anddesign studios, most notably Roger Dean for his work with Yes, and Hipgnosis for their work with Pink Floyd and several other progressive rockgroups.

Stage theatrics: Beginning in the early 1970s, some progressive rock bands began incorporating elaborate and sometimes flamboyant stage theatricsinto their concerts. Genesis lead singer Peter Gabriel wore many different colourful and exotic costumes in one show and frequently acted out thelyrical narrative of the songs, and the band used lasers and giant mirrors synchronized with the music. Yes incorporated futuristic stage sets designedby Roger Dean, including massive spaceship props and complex lighting. Yes also performed 'in-the-round', with the band on a round stage set up inthe middle of the arena. Jethro Tull released rabbits on stage (see here). One of ELP's many stage antics include Emerson's "flying piano" at theCalifornia Jam concert, in which a Steinway grand piano would be spun from a hoist. Pink Floyd used many stage effects, including crashingaeroplanes, a giant floating pig, massive projection screens, and, in 1980, an enormous mock brick wall for The Wall performances. Rush incorporatedlasers and film backdrops into their stage show. Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention used a giant giraffe prop and did improvisational comedyskits. Marillion's former lead singer Fish wore a jester costume inspired by the band's first album, Script for a Jester's Tear.


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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Progressive rock".

Written by Lucas BIELA

The development of Progressive Rock Music, a diffic ult task

Late 60s and beginning of the 70sI would say it all began with psychedelic music, i.e. essentially Jimi Hendrix and earlier PINK FLOYD (all their stuff with Syd Barrett). Some people saythat The BEATLES also had a contribution to the prog movement). Then came bands such as KING CRIMSON and YES at the end of the sixties. KINGCRIMSON, along with VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR (VDGG) helped define a sub-genre of the progressive music called hard prog ('hard' referringto the tormented atmosphere of their records, however "In The Court In The Crimson King" is symphonic prog). YES were playing symphonic rock, socalled because of the use of a symphonic orchestra. GENESIS were already recording at the end of the sixties but their links to the progressive rockwere not yet defined. With the album "Trespass", things became clear about GENESIS. YES and GENESIS remain icons in symphonic rock music.Other bands followed their steps later : GENTLE GIANT, CAMEL among others. At the same time as symphonic rock was developing in Great Britain,many Italian bands were performing a similar type of music : BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORCO (BDMS for short), PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI(PFM), Le ORME, QUELLA VECCHIA LOCANDA (QVL) among others. These two countries were the most prolific as far as progressive rock isconcerned.

Let's go back to England to focus on another sub-genre that comes from the Canterbury country. CARAVAN defined that sub-genre with their secondalbum and bands like HATFIELD AND THE NORTH and later NATIONAL HEALTH followed (plus a band that didn't come from England but from USA,HAPPY THE MAN). The first GONG album ("Camembert Electrique", featuring Pip Pyle on drums who later joined HATFIELD and NATIONAL HEALTH)belongs also to this sub-genre. Daevid Allen (who later founded GONG) formed with Robert Wyatt SOFT MACHINE, a band that could be regarded asbelonging to the Canterbury scene for their first three releases, but that turned to jazz-fusion (with "Third"), another sub-genre that included also laterBruford and BRAND X, and in the USA Frank ZAPPA.

So, all the beginning of the seventies, 3 sub-genres are already established : symphonic (YES, GENESIS), Canterbury (CARAVAN, earlier GONG),hard prog (KING CRIMSON, VDGG).

The 70sAfter Syd Barrett left PINK FLOYD, their music became softer with ethereal passages : they defined a new sub-genre, space rock. GONG were alsofollowing the same way with "Angel Egg" (but with humour), their best record to date. After The YARDBIRDS split, Keith Relf formed with his wife Janethe band RENAISSANCE, a group that blended folk music with progressive rock. Along with JETHRO TULL, RENAISSANCE were qualified as a folkprog band. The popularity of RENAISSANCE grew after Annie Haslam replaced Jane Relf on vocals and they releases the great "Scheherazade AndOther Stories" in 1975. JETHRO TULL released "Aqualung" in 1971, an album that is considered as a classic today, but I would recommend theflow-up "Thick As A Brick" as an introduction to their contribution to the folk prog scene.

Another sub-genre of the progressive rock was also developing in the seventies : art rock, led by bands such as SUPERTRAMP, ROXY MUSIC, 10CC. These groups were playing a simpler music than in the other prog sub-genre. In Germany, a group called TANGERINE DREAM was playing amusic based exclusively on electronic instruments, hence their music was called "Electronic" (or New Age"), although it may include many not electronicinstruments (as is the case for Mike OLDFIELD), VANGELIS and SYNERGY belong also to this sub-genre. Many of the German bands that appearedat the beginning of the seventies were classified as "Krautrock", an additional sub-genre of the progressive rock, including GROBSCHNITT, AMONDÜÜL, ASH RA TEMPEL. A minimalistic form of the "electronic" music appeared also in the seventies : ambient. KRAFTWERK, Brian ENO, CLUSTER


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belong to this category. Moreover, in England a sub-genre based on improvisation and with a jazz background appeared in 1973 with the release ofHENRY COW's "Leg End" (RIO, Rock In Opposition).

I forgot to mention that EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER (ELP), band that gathered members of KING CRIMSON, ATOMIC ROOSTER and The NICEreleased albums ("Tarkus" being regarded as their best) belonging to a sub-genre called classical prog, as they often feature a song that is anadaptation of a piece of classical music ("Pictures At An Exibition" for example). The NICE and Rick WAKEMAN belong also to this sub-genre, In NorthAmerica, some groups tried to mix hard rock with progressive elements, such bands are RUSH, STYX among others (KANSAS could also be added tothis category but it is also close to the English symphonic prog scene). They were called pomp prog as the intros and outros of some of their songs are"pompous".

I mentioned previously the development of a jazz-fusion scene with BRAND X (featuring Phil Collins), Bruford, and ZAPPA, the music of this latter couldbe considered as a unique sub-genre (mix of jazz, doo-wap, rock…). Another band was also strongly rooted in jazz but included also influences rangingfrom Stockhausen to Duke Ellington, via opera : MAGMA, who created the Zeuhl sub-genre, with a language intelligible only by them ("Kobaïa").

So, at the end of the seventies you have 10 new sub-genres in the progressive rock : art rock, folk prog, classical prog, RIO, jazz-fusion, Zeuhl,ambient, electronic, krautrock, pomp prog

The 80sThe progressive rock was supplanted by the "punk movement" at the end of the seventies, a "music" which aim was to prove that everyone could playmusic. "Punk" gave rise to the cold wave in the eighties and prog rock was reduced to what was called neo progressive (a simpler form of thesymphonic prog but with much present drums), and an embryo of what became at the beginning of the nineties the metal prog . SAGA were probablythe first to play this neo prog, but MARILLION, IQ and PENDRAGON are the best representatives of this sub-genre. Landmarq albums include"Misplaced Childhood" by MARILLION, "Masquerade Overture ('96)" by PENDRAGON and "Ever" by IQ.

The 90sMetal prog developed with DREAM THEATER's "Images And Words". However, in the eighties some groups were already playing a heavy metal basedprogressive music : QUEENSRYCHE, FATES WARNING, WATCHTOWER. Thanks to Mike Varney in the USA, who founded the prog label MagnaCarta, and in Europe the Inside Out Label. Apart from metal prog. SPOCK'S BEARD were playing a symphonic prog with references to GENTLEGIANT and GENESIS and ECHLOLYN and IZZ were playing a music closer to neo prog. In the Northern Europe, a Scandinavian symphonic progscene developed with bands such as The FLOWER KJINGS, ANGLAGARD and SINKADUS, A post RIO scene also developed with DJAM KARET,THINKING PLAGUE… Some groups play jazz-fusion : KENSO, CARTOONE, DEUS EX MACHINA. PORCUPINE TREE and OZRIC TENACLES playspace rock. COLLAGE, CLEPSYDRA are great bands hat are strongly influenced by IQ and MARILLION.

Thus, in the nineties you have a revival of the prog scene not only with the appearance of a new sub-genre : metal prog but also with bands playing thestyles developed in the seventies.

I hope these informations will help you in your investigation.

Written by Lucas BIELA

Progressive rock (shortened to prog, or prog rock when differentiating from other... genres) is a broad and convergent style of rock music andprogressive music which arose in the late 1960s , reaching the peak of its popularity in the early 1970s , but continuing as a musical form to this day.This genre music is a catalyst to raise considerably the level of musicanship among rock bands and bring a new level of depth and sophistication to


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rock. Popular bands associated with progressive rock include JETHRO TULL, KING CRIMSON, GENESIS, PINK FLOYD, YES, the much-discussednewscomers ARENA, IQ, PENDRAGON, DREAM THEATER, MARILLION, PORCUPINE TREE and many other bands come from there. If you're notfamiliar with Prog Rock, it's a rather adventure some style of music . We hope you enjoy your browse through thirty years of progressive rock historywhen you visit our ‘Progressive’ and related departments. Nowadays its more underground but with a very loyal following.

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 belowis 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

Canterbury SceneCrossover ProgEclectic ProgExperimental/Post MetalHeavy ProgIndo-Prog/Raga RockJazz Rock/FusionKrautrockNeo-ProgPost Rock/Math rockProg FolkProg RelatedProgressive ElectronicProgressive MetalProto-ProgPsychedelic/Space RockRIO/Avant-ProgRock Progressivo ItalianoSymphonic ProgTech/Extreme Prog MetalVarious GenresZeuhl

With many other types of English progressive music developing mostly in London, it may at first seem strange that the old pilgrimage centre andrelatively quiet cathedral city of Canterbury, became the centre of this very English form of progressive music and jazz fusion. Originally the WildeFlowers, a teenage band of members living in and around Canterbury, playing a mix of pop, R'n'B and band members with a developing love of jazz,was formed in the 60's and became the seedling from which the Canterbury Scene grew. Australian beatnik Daevid Allen during a long stop-over atRobert Wyatt's parent's home, a refuge for many left field artists, was to catalyse the evolution of the Wilde Flowers into the fledging Soft Machine andthe development of some avant music during the English psychedelic and underground period. From 1963 to 1969, the Wilde Flowers included most ofthe figures who later formed Canterbury's two best known bands, (The) Soft Machine (Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Hugh Hopper) and Caravan (PyeHastings, David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Richard Coughlan).

Canterbury was then to be the cradle for several of the more freewheeling British bands of the post-psychedelic era. While fans would suggest this is


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the home of an English musical quirkiness tempered with quite a bit of whimsy, within the Canterbury Scene's musical spectrum any similaritiesbetween Canterbury's major bands, (e.g. Soft Machine, Caravan, Gong, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Hatfield & the North, Egg, National Health), are notimmediately obvious*. Most bands will be found employing a clever fusion of rock rhythms and jazz improvisation with intellectual song-writing andvarying strengths of psychedelia - some would too include folk elements (e.g. Spirogyra), others blues (e.g. Carol Grimes and Delivery). In addition, anumber of bands employed various elements from classical music, for instance those bands with Dave Stewart playing keyboards. Whilst there havebeen a handful of excellent and distinctly different guitarists to play with Canterbury bands (e.g. Andy Summers, Allan Holdsworth, John Etheridge,Steve Hillage, Phil Miller), the lead instrument of choice has been keyboards. One English peculiarity of Canterbury is what the late John Peel calledthe 'School of Anti-song' because of particular Wyatt, Ayers and Richard Sinclair's approaches to vocals and perhaps the whimsy. More recentlyRichard Sinclair's vocal style has perhaps accurately been labelled as 'English jazz singing' by Jazzwise (i.e. singing jazz with an English rather thanthe usual American accent). In addition Canterbury musicians have experimented as avant garde, free jazz players, e.g. instance Elton Dean, LolCoxhill, Steve Miller.

(*However, once you've heard some Canterbury bands the commonality becomes more obvious - chord sequencing e.g. Caveman Hughscore's electricpiano opening on the tune 'More Than Nothing', the vocals, the lyrics etc.)

Both the Soft Machine and Caravan were popular in England's psychedelic/ underground scene before releasing their first albums in 1968, withMachine completing on level footing with Pink Floyd. However, by the early 70's a series of fragmenting changes of bands' line-ups, (Soft Machine wentthrough about 30) and the subsequent formation of new bands, rapidly broadened Canterbury's range, with many newer musicians with only loose andin fact, no previous Canterbury connections. Early Soft Machine member Daevid Allen formed Gong in Paris. Both Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt leftthe Softs because of musical developments they did not like, to begin their own solo careers. By the mid-70's, most the old and new Canterbury bandshad progressed away from psychedelia, developing their distinct forms of progressive rock some embracing jazz fusion, many playing extended jamswith now limited lyrical input (e.g. Hatfield and The Norths, National Health, Gilgamesh). Caravan became more folky. However, as the 70's progressedseveral Canterbury bands would lose most of the rock element from their music. Gong retained their psychedelic side longest, but with the departure ofDaevid Allen and Steve Hillage in the mid 70's, the band evolved into the percussion-oriented, jazz rock group Gong, which eventually became themodern day Gongzilla. Daevid Allen regained Gong's name in the 90's and through his solo work and with his University of Errors, is still evidentlyproducing psychedelia. Steve Hillage's form of psychedelia evolved into the glissando rock of his own band and then into electronica, by the end of the70's. In particular, Hillage through his work as a successful record producer of new bands from the 80's, develop his form of electronica through otherbands. This music lost much of its complexity e.g. few riffs played over and over, rather than dozens per tune that previously had often typified prog,into a very popular form that is the antithesis of prog, i.e. the various forms of house music, with associated remixing/turntablism. For instance, Gong's"You" got the remix treatment in the 90's - but then to reflect his range of activities, Hillage has also produced and played guitar for Algerian Rai singer,Rachid Taha for over 20 years.

Many of Britain's better known avant-garde and fusion musicians of the 70's and 80's - including Fred Frith (Henry Cow), Allan Holdsworth (Gong, SoftMachine, UK, Bruford) and Peter Blegvad - were involved during their early careers playing in Canterbury bands. And still new musicians join theCanterbury Scene's ranks, Theo Travis being perhaps the most notable recently (Gong, The Soft Machine Legacy). The Canterbury scene was tohave a major influence on musicians in Europe, especially France (e.g. Gong, Moving Gelatine Plates), the Netherlands (Super Sister)and Italy(Daedalus), and more belatedly in the USA (Hughscore). Caravan reformed in the mid 90's, while ex-members of Soft Machine could be found invarious avant jazz and straight jazz fusion groups, e.g. Just Us, Soft Heap, Soft Works and most recently The Soft Machine Legacy. From theCanterbury Scene, RIO it its various forms has developed.

FOOTNOTE: As indicated above, many Canterbury Scene bands are acknowledged as having played/are playing jazz rock fusion. However, becauseof their strong Canterbury affliations are listed under "Canterbury Scene" in Prog Archives.

Dick HeathBased loosely in part on the source: http://www.allmusic.com(Edition 3, Aug 2009)


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Current team members as at 09/06/2012:Alucard (Martin)Padriac (Pat)SaltyJon

All Canterbury Scene artists list

Crossover Prog contains progressive rock music that, though 100% progressive, may have a musical connection to popular music-- whether it be thelack of emphasis on extended compositions, or an influence from mainstream music in addition to classical, jazz and folk. Compositions, however, stillexhibit a high degree of sophistication, sometimes outright complexity, and the musicianship and virtuosity is often on a par with established Prog acts.Much like their kin in the established prog sub-genres, these groups will incorporate many major parts of what defines prog rock: the fusing of rock withthe structures and discipline of more traditional musics, the use of syntheisizers and new technologies, intelligent thematics, and the expansion of theform.

The defining characteristics of Crossover Prog are a pop music influence that is largely vacant in typical prog rock. Songs tend toward shorter, moreconcise presentations though still reach beyond the typical verse, bridge, chorus pattern. The harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic structures may be moreeasily digested in Crossover while not losing the musical integrity that a prog listener expects. Whereas Prog Related bands are generally commercialgroups with certain prog elements or players that were involved in prog acts, Crossover Prog artists are predominantly progressive with elements ofpopular music.

The most representative examples for this genre include The MOODY BLUES, SUPERTRAMP, DREDG, CINEMA SHOW, RADIOHEAD.

- written by micky (Michael) and Chus (Jesus)

Current Team Members as at 11/11/2013

Marty McFly (Martin)Evolver (Scott)kev rowland (Kevin)ProgShine (Diego)

All Crossover Prog artists list

The term 'eclectic' in the context of progressive rock describes a summation of elements from various musical sources, and the influences and careerpaths of bands that take from a wide range of genres or styles. While progressive music can be, in a larger sense, eclectic, the 'Eclectic Prog' term is


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specially meant to reference bands that trespass the boundaries of established Progressive Rock genres or that blend many influences.

Eclectic Prog combines hybrids of style and diversity of theme, promoting many elements from different sources. The Eclectic category recognizesbands that evolved markedly over their career (in a progressive, evolutionary way), or have a plural style without a clear referential core.

The basic features lie within the music's variety, rich influences, art tendencies and classic prog rock elements. Among the representative bands areKING CRIMSON, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, and GENTLE GIANT.

- written by Ricochet (Victor)

Current Team as at 09/06/2012

Moris (clarke2001)Rob (Epignosis)Progressive AtticLogan (thellama73)Matt (thehallway)

All Eclectic Prog artists list

Experimental Progressive Metal

Experimental progressive metal is a sub-genre of progressive metal characterized by the incorporation of innovative, eclectic elements, large-scaleexperimentation and the use of non-standard and unconventional sounds, instruments, song structures, playing styles, and vocal techniques.Experimentation in the music is a major criteria to define the genre where artists often add unique elements to the overall sound, while progressivemetal usually has more focus on traditional metal instrumentation and higher levels of technical complexity.

It's nearly impossible to pinpoint the exact origin of Experimental Progressive Metal since experimentation is common in all music genres. Still it is clearthat experimentation in the progressive metal sub-genre has slowly but steadily grown in popularity ever since its humble beginnings in the early 1980s.

Just like any other style, Experimental Progressive Metal has a few defining moments that have changed the rules for its sub-genre for years to come.Two of such moments are the releases of the debut album by MR.BUNGLE of August 1991 and its iconic follow up "Disco Volante" of 1995. MRBUNGLE became notorious for their heavy sound and mid-song shifts of musical style. The band has later spawned an array of establishedavant-garde side projects such as FANTÔMAS, SECRET CHIEFS 3 and ESTRADASPHERE but also inspired new Experimental Metal acts to take themusic scene to new heights.Another crucial artist in the development of Experimental Progressive Metal was the leading Avant Metal band of the 80s, CELTIC FROST. Theireclectic mix of Thrash, Doom, Symphonic and Goth Metal created a dark theatrical mystique that became a major influence among the experimentalExtreme Metal bands of the 90s such as MY DYING BRIDE, ULVER, ARCTURUS among others. These bands served as an important source of


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inspiration for the experimental movement within extreme metal.

The bands listed under Experimental Progressive Metal have all, in various degrees, shed their extreme heritage in favor of embracing influences of theeclectic style going from art rock and ethnic up to free-jazz and even modernist music.

Art MetalArt metal is a direct continuation of progressive metal but with the longing to expand the themes and styles of music while maintaining the technicalcomplexity of the sub-genre.These bands are more artistic than their progressive metal peers and tend to experiment, to a certain extent, but not as openly as the bands of theeclectic and avant-garde metal styles. Art metal comes in many shapes and forms. The virtuosity and complete unpredictability of DEVIN TOWNSEND,OSI and TOOL always manages to draw attention of both fans of traditional metal as well as the progressive music audience, while bands likeANATHEMA, DEADSOUL TRIBE and GORDIAN KNOT attract many fans of groove and atmospheric music into their vibrant soundscapes. Othernotable acts include GREEN CARNATION, DARK SUNS and ANTIMATTER.

Eclectic MetalThese bands often add unconventional elements to their metal sound, whether it's experiments with various new sounds and styles that are otherwiseuncommon in metal or by blending many styles, with metal being the referential core. Whether it's the ethnic elements of ORPHANED LAND's musicthat combines Middle Eastern folklore with the more traditional progressive metal sound or a completely unique mix of atmospheric, almost ambient,elements fused with metal that can be found in the sound of THE GATHERING, eclectic metal artists will always certainly bring a host of different stylesand ideas to the table. Experimental metal can be found in numerous forms while featuring notable acts like INDUKTI, IN THE WOODS... andMAUDLIN OF THE WELL.

Avant-garde MetalThis style is generally considered to be more extreme in both its arrangements but most importantly extremely complex and unpredictable songstructures. Compositions have the ambition of trying to breach boundaries of music and generally have significant experimental approaches to metalmusic. Most of this music borders on the realms of pure avant-garde while still maintaining a solid foundation in metal with technical instrumentalprowess. Notable acts include UNEXPECT, EPHEL DUATH and VIRUS.

Post Metal

Post metal arose following the subsequent emergence of numerous newer, grittier metal genres like sludge, stoner, doom, and drone in the late 80'sand early 90's, as well as the budding post-rock scene that emerged in the early 90's in Europe and North America. The scene's origins can be heard inseveral distinctly like-minded, moderately experimental groups in the early 90's, ranging from the noisy grind of GODFLESH, the sludgy, melodic,sometimes punk-like riffs of the MELVINS, and the proggy time signatures and grungy riffing of TOOL or HELMET, to the textural work of DONCABALLERO and the more melodic moments of early BARK PSYCHOSIS.

Arguably the first true and definitive realizations of post-metal emerged in the mid 1990's. The most concrete example was NEUROSIS, who movedfarther away from their crust-punk origins and into more atmospheric territories with releases like Souls at Zero and Through Silver in Blood, the latteralbum in particular being regarded as one of the most definitive releases in the genre even to this day for its revolutionary blend of dark, spanningatmosphere and massively heavy sludge, something that would later come to define the post-metal genre as a whole (indeed, post-metal is often called"atmospheric sludge" as well). It wouldn't be until the early 2000's, however, that the genre's capacity would be fully realized, with releases like ISIS's"Oceanic", CULT OF LUNA's "Salvation", and PELICAN's "Australasia" paving the way for a true scene to emerge, and post-metal has since become awidespread phenomenon that has captivated the attention of many adventurous listeners worldwide.

Post-metal's unique sound is often very long and extremely drawn-out, utilizing oft-repetitive and simple riffs and guitar texturing to create massivebuildups and musical climaxes. At times very emotionally evocative, it can be equally soft and soothing as it can be massively dense and crushing.


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Vocals are used sparingly, if at all (instrumental post-metal is a popular genre, with groups like PELICAN and RUSSIAN CIRCLES even achieving somedegree of mainstream credibility), and when they are, they're usually gruff and barked as opposed to growled or screamed, a signature trait of thegenre's hardcore roots.

Variations of Post-metal

While it should be noted that many post-metal bands have their roots in sludge metal, there are many post-metal bands that are rooted in other genresof metal. While post-sludge was an almost uniquely American phenomenon, a number of European doom-influenced post-metal bands have risen tofame, namely groups like ANATHEMA, YEAR OF NO LIGHT and CALLISTO; their slow-churning riffs and depressing mood of doom metal fit very wellinto the post-metal formula. These groups later gave way to more western post-doom-metal projects like JESU, GIANT SQUID, and MINSK.

A number of post-metal bands are significantly influenced by hardcore and post-hardcore, crafting the melodic elements of modern hardcore into theirown brands of textural and atmospheric post-metal. This is exemplified by groups like ROSETTA, THE OCEAN COLLECTIVE, CAVE IN, MOUTH OFTHE ARCHITECT and BURST.

A subgenre that has emerged to a considerable degree in the last decade is an amalgamation of post-rock and black metal. Black metal hastraditionally not been a stylistic influence on post-metal over the years, but bands like ALCEST, FEN, AGALLOCH and ALTAR OF PLAGUES haveused the more atmospheric qualities of black metal and the tremolo riffing and incorporated it with a shoegaze-like affinity for heavy, dreamy soundsand guitar effects to create a unique and evocative subgenre that shares many visional and sonic characteristics of post-metal. While the explosion ofbands exploring this style is a rather recent phenomenon, there are some instances of this occurring very early in the lifespan of the post-metal genreas a whole. ULVER's debut could be seen as possibly the first album to fall under this definition. For clarification's sake, these post-rock influencedbands are placed in the post-metal subsection of ProgArchives as opposed to the black metal subsection of Tech/Extreme because they eschew muchof the harsh tonalities, minor modes, and shrieking vocals of black metal and add a melodic and emotional aspect that makes it much more accessiblethan their progressive black metal peers in the tech/extreme section.

Today, the most popular post-metal groups are much of the genre's godfathers like ISIS, NEUROSIS, PELICAN, and CULT OF LUNA, though a numberof newer bands have risen to fame in metal and prog circles within the last 5 years like INTRONAUT, ROSETTA, and THE OCEAN COLLECTIVE.

--- Definition by Alex and Kevin and the Progressive Metal Team, February 2012 ---

The Progressive Metal TeamKarl (bonnek)Kevin (Necroncommander)Alex (Rune2000)Thanos (aapatsos)Dave (Prog Sothoth)

All Experimental/Post Metal artists list


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Heavy Prog defines progressive rock music that draws as much influence from hard rock as it does from classic progressive rock. In simple terms, it isa marriage of the guitar-based heavy blues of the late 1960s and 1970s - artists such as Cream, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath - and theprogressive/symphonic movement represented by King Crimson, Yes and Genesis.

The electric guitar, amplified to produce distortion (or 'overdrive') is a crucial element, providing the 'heavy' tone required for this aggressive style, andlater for the British and North American heavy metal of the late 1970s and 80s. The primary rock format of drums, bass and guitar with keys and/orvocals on top is represented strongly in heavy prog. The presence of the Hammond organ with its deep, intense rumble was also common amongharder progressive groups such as ATOMIC ROOSTER. Although certain other acts, such as King Crimson and Jethro Tull, utilize a heavy guitar, bassand keyboard sound, the bulk of their work over the years puts them in a different category.

Bands that represent Heavy Prog would include RUSH, PORCUPINE TREE, THE MARS VOLTA, URIAH HEEP, TEMPEST, BLACK WIDOW, DR.Z,ATOMIC ROOSTER, WARHORSE, BIRTH CONTROL, TILES.

- written bt Atavachron (David)

Current Team as of 15/09/2013

Andy (Andy Webb)rdtprogThanos (aapatsos)

All Heavy Prog artists list

The private, metaphysical relations to oneself, to the other, the symbolism of existence are connected, transfigured by the particular expression of raga,classical India music. The emotion provided by this music is not only "affective". It's a real message, an aesthetic of the nature, of the divine, a virtueable to guide the listener to a state of emotional trance. In the mid-60's with the launch of international success of raga masters as Ravi Shankar, AliAkbar Khan.European and American artists will become more and more captivated by the dynamical relation between mystical emotion, spirituality andmusic. The emergence of Raga schools from everywhere (still perpetuating the ancestral musical traditions), the initiatic travels of Western minimalist-modern jazz composers (Terry Riley, Don Cherry...) to India will participate to a growing interest for this musical universe. The emphasis on repetitivecircular rhythms, ornamentation (gamaka), the use of acoustic stringed patterns, the sense of beatific endurance and lenghty improvisation are thecentral characteristics of this music in term of practice and sound aesthetism. Emotionally, the function on the listener is hypnotic, voluntary trying toreach him into a higher state of consciousness, modulating his perception of time and space. The basic conception of "drone" (continuous sound form)will be taken back in popular music and turned into "kosmische" electronica (70's Berlin underground). After Seventh sons' first original but ratherdiscreet effort simply called "raga" (1964) and Malachi's holy music (1966), famous bands as the Beatles in "Revolver" (1966) and Traffic in their album"Mr Fantasy" (1967) will be seduced by the sonorities of Indian raga music. They occasionally incorporate sitar elements to their music. Among themost notorious artists who participate to the original dialogue between proggy rock and Indian music we can notice many jazzy formed musiciansinfluenced by "world" elements (the guitarists Volker Krieger, Steve Tibbetts, the clarinet player Tony Scott). They are often recognised to practice afusion between jazz rock harmonies and raga's instrumentations (tabla, sitar.). Among them Collin Walcott and Alberto Marsicano were Ravi Shankar'spupils. The world of "raga" rock can also include psych folk / drone-y bands (Quintessance, Fit & Limo, Flute & Voice, GHQ, Pelt...) and which arelargely impregnated by mysticism, sonic meditation and sitar.


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Philippe Blache

All Indo-Prog/Raga Rock artists list

Jazz Fusion is jazz that is strongly influenced by other styles of music. Jazz fusion is an ambiguous term that provides the first level sub-setdown from Jazz. Jazz rock is a sub-sub set from jazz via jazz fusion. The ambiguity comes from an American tendency through the 90's and untilnow, to freely interchange jazz rock and jazz fusion, when in fact the latter term covers most hybrids of jazz fused with other forms of music. Theroots of jazz rock can be traced back to RnB influenced soul-jazz artists such as Les McCann, Grant Green and Jimmy Smith, and young Britishjazzers such as Graham Bond, Ginger Baker, John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce, Georgie Fame, who were forced to use electronic instrumentsbecause the local club's acoustic instruments were reserved for the older established jazz musicians. Probably the first jazz artists that releasedrecordings that mixed modern rock (circa 60s) with jazz were Larry Coryell, Jeremy Steig, Charles Lloyd, The Soft Machine, and The (Jazz)Crusaders. Meanwhile rock artists such as Cream, Grateful Dead and The Jimi Hendrix Experience were getting a lot of publicity and fame withtheir lengthy improvisations based on blues, rock, psychedelia and some jazz. These rock artists had an impact on Miles Davis who generateda lot of media attention to this new jazz-rock genre with his Bitches Brew album. From there the genre grew and exploded into numerousdifferent directions. One of these directions was brass rock as exemplified by bands like Dreams, Chicago, BS&T and If. These bandscombined elements of jazz, rock and classical music with arrangements for brass and woodwinds.

1.

Many other styles of music have been combined with jazz to create fusion including traditional music from around the world, R'n'B, rock,electronic music and pop music and jazz from Africa, Latin America, India and other places. One of the earliest examples of the use of the termfusion comes from the Indo-jazz fusion of Joe Harriott and John Mayer. Some of the more popular early practitioners of fusion included WeatherReport and Herbie Hancock's Sextant. A few years later Shakti appears on the scene and expands the boundaries of fusion further,foreshadowing the World Fusion movement of the 90's.

2.

In part Nu.jazz grew out of the British acid jazz scene of the late 80s and early 90s, whilst modern leaders of nu.fusion cite Miles Davis and JonHassell as the godfathers of the genre. As the genre began to develop it took on other influences such as world beat/jazz fusion, psychedelictrip-hop, post-rock and mixtures of ambience with modern jazz. The jazz with electronia experiments that Jon Hassell was conducting in the late80's, with the likes of Eno, were to be a major influence especially on the dance side of nu.jazz, sometimes known as nu.fusion. Three mainelements make nu.jazz different from the more traditional jazz (rock) fusion. First of all there is less of an emphasis on instrumental virtuosity innu.jazz (especially nu.fusion). Second, more use of electronics (especially skilled turntablism) and studio trickery that emphasizes soundtextures. Third, nu.jazz tends to use more modern rhythms such as drum'n'bass, hip-hop, post-rock, and various mixtures of world beat rhythms.Progressive nu.jazz artists such as Bugge Wesseltoft, Nils Petter Molvaer and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio (E.S.T.), combine complicatedcompositions with modern rhythms to create new unheard of soundscapes - while the former two are leaders of nu.fusion, and with moreemphasis on jazz playing, EST have been the leaders in straighter nu.jazz. Nu.jazz is loosely connected to other newer jazz fusion genres,particularly the more progressive live, jazz jam bands such as Medeski Martin & Wood or Garaj Mahal. It may seem that the only differencebetween the two genres is the country the artist is from or what scene they came up through.li>

3.

Only the most progressive of nu jazz, jazz-rock and fusion artists are listed on Progarchives, although accceptability or not here may vary from personto person. All artists have elements of progressive rock in their music (e.g. Jean Luc Ponty, Bill Bruford or David Sancious) or they represent the most


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forward-looking and progressive element in their genre (e.g. Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock or Weather Report). It should be noted that those manyCanterbury jazz rock fusion bands, e.g. Soft Machine, Soft Works, Soft Heap, Soft Machine Legacy, Gilgamesh etc. are to be found under theCANTERBURY heading in Prog Archives.

Dick HeathJohn 'Easy Money'Martin 'Alucard' Horst(Edition 3.2. Nov 2009)

Current Team Members as at 01/01/2013

Dick HeathEvolver (Scott)Man With Hat (Phil)Darkshade (Mike)historian9

All Jazz Rock/Fusion artists list

Krautrock (also called "Kosmische musik") is a German avant-garde / experimental rock movement that emerged at the end of the 1960's. It wasintended to go beyond the eccentricities developed by the wild psychedelic rock universe of the US, by giving a special emphasis to electronictreatments, sound manipulation and minimal hypnotic motifs (continuing the style of "musique concrete" and minimalist repetitive music but within amore accessible environment).

Krautrock put the emphasis on extended and ecstatic instrumental epics, neglecting the format of conventional psych-pop songs. The term Krautrockwas first used by the British music press in a very derogatory way. The term rapidly found a better reputation in underground music circles and finallygained a certain popularity (thanks to the Brain-Festival Essen...)

The Krautrock movement is widely associated with notorious bands such as Popol Vuh, Amon Duul, Faust, Neu!, Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free, GuruGuru, etc. With their own particular artistic expression, these musical collectives provided rocking psychedelic incantations, mantra like drones,melancholic lugubrious atmospheres, long and convoluted collective improvisations, binary repetitive drum pulses, fuzz guitars, feedback, primitiveelectronic noises, hallucinatory ballads, and garage blues rock trips. Krautrock can be described as an anarchic, intense, acid, tellurian, nocturnal,spacey, dark and oniric "adventure" through rock music.

The most consistent years of the Krautrock scene cover a relatively short period from 1970 to 1975. After their first spontaneous, hyperactive andpsychedelic efforts, the bands generally split up or declined into other musical sensibilities, more in line with mainstream rock or with ambientsoundscapes.

Each region develops its particular musical scene, interpreting differently the Krautrock musical structure. For instance the Berlin school focused on"astral" synthscapes, weird electronic experimentation and acid jams (Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free, Mythos, The Cosmic Jokers, Kluster...), TheMunich scene offered fuzzed out (Eastern) psych rock mantras with some folk accents (Popol Vuh, Amon Duul, Gila, Guru Guru, Witthuser &


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Westrupp...). Cologne and Dusseldorf underground scenes focused on happenings, political rock, electronics, pulsating rhythms and clean soundingKrautrock (Floh de Cologne, La Dusseldorf, Neu! Can...).

This musical cartography is correct in the absolute but naturally reveals some variations and exceptions. This intriguing and freak 'n' roll 1970's Germanscene enjoyed a rebirth in recent years thanks to a large number of reissues (of long lost classics) published by several independent labels (Spalax,Garden of Delights, Long Hair Music...) as a direct result of Krautrock's musical inspiration of modern post rock bands. There are actually some neopsychedelic rock bands who try to hold up Krautrock, and who notably find a major place to express themselves during the historical Burg HerzbergFestival in Germany.

Philippe BlacheDecember 2007

All Krautrock artists list

Neo-Progressive rock (more commonly "Neo-Prog") is a subgenre of Progressive Rock that originally was used to describe artists strongly influencedby the classic symphonic prog bands that flourished during the 1970s. At the beginning of the neo-prog movement, the primary influence was early tomid-70's Genesis. Debate over when Neo-Prog actually came into being often takes place, with some asserting it began with Marillion's Script for aJester's Tear in 1983. Others contend it began with Twelfth Night at the dawn of the 80s, while some even suggest the popular symphonic prog bandGenesis gave rise to Neo-Prog with their 1976 album, A Trick of the Tail.

If one analyses the progressive movement just before 1980, then some albums which heavily influenced the Neo-Prog movement easily come to mind:Steve Hackett - Spectral Mornings, Genesis - Wind & Wuthering, Genesis - And Then There Were Three, Genesis - Seconds Out, Saga - Saga, all theCamel albums between Breathless and The Single Factor included, and some Eloy's albums, especially Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes.

This new form of progressive rock originated in the UK, and is most strongly associated with bands such as Marillion, Pendragon and IQ; and whiletheatrical stage antics were a part of the live performances of many artists exploring this subset of the progressive rock genre it's the musical elementsthat are key to the genre; typified by the use of atmospheric guitar and synth soloing with symphonic leanings, with a tendency towards floating synthlayers and dreamy soloing. An additional trait is the use of modern synths rather than vintage analogue synths and keyboards. The main reasons forNeo-Progressive artists to be separated from the ones exploring Symphonic Prog in the first place are the above, as well as a heavier emphasis onsong-form and melody than some of their earlier symphonic counterparts.

As time went by other artists appeared that also deviated from the norms created by the classic wave of progressive rock artists in the 70's. The late70's had given the world punk music; the 80's gave the world new wave; and the 90's grunge. These, as well as other forms, had a tremendous amountof influence outside of the progressive rock realm. The advent of the modern synth also inspired artists like Tomita, Vangelis and Kitaro to exploredreamier musical works.


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These and other forms of more or less newly made musical genres influenced artists exploring progressive rock as well. Although many artists did sowithin the framework of 70's progressive rock, more and more artists developed a sound and style so heavily influenced by these more recent musicaldevelopments that categorizing them within the existing subgenres of progressive rock became increasingly difficult.

While the Neo-Progressive genre initially consisted of artists exploring a modernized version of Symphonic Prog, these days artists coined asNeo-Progressive cover a multitude of musical expressions, where the common denominator is the inclusion - within a progressive rock framework - ofmusical elements developed just prior to and after 1980. The Neo-Progressive genre in it's refined form thus covers a vast musical territory, to someextent covering all existing subsets of progressive rock and also searching out towards genres as different as new age on one side and punk and metalon the other.

Opening paragraphs written by Stonebeard, Cygnus X-2, Greenback

Revised, edited and refined April 2009 by windhawk, The Doctor and E-Dub

Current Neo-Prog Team membersas at 18/10/2013

Apostolis (psarros) ... Team leaderKeishiro (DamoXt7942)Matti

All Neo-Prog artists list

POST-ROCK:

The term post-rock was coined by Simon Reynolds in issue 123 of The Wire (May 1994) to describe a sort of music "using rock instrumentation fornon-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords."

Originally used to describe the music of such bands as Stereolab, Disco Inferno, Seefeel, Bark Psychosis and Pram, it spread out to be frequently usedfor all sorts of jazz- and Krautrock-influenced, instrumental, electronica-added music made after 1994. Bands from the early 1990s such as Slint, orearlier, such as Talk Talk were influential on this genre. As with many musical genres, the term is arguably inadequate: it is used for the music ofTortoise as well as that of Mogwai, two bands who have very little in common besides the fact that their music is largely instrumental.

The aforementioned Tortoise was among the founders of the movement. After the second Tortoise LP Millions Now Living Will Never Die, the bandbecame a post-rock icon. After Millions... many bands (e.g., Do Make Say Think) began to record, inspired by the "Tortoise-sound" and were oftendescribed as post-rock.

In the late nineties, Chicago, Illinois, became the home base of many different groups. John McEntire (of Tortoise) became an important producer forlots of them, as well as Jim O'Rourke (of Brice-Glace, Gastr del Sol and many more). Post-rock began to range from the slow, guitar-based ambience ofBoxhead Ensemble to the up-tempo electronica of Stereolab.


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Montreal, Quebec band Godspeed You Black Emperor! - later renamed 'Godspeed You! Black Emperor' - brought a political element withanti-globalization movement leanings.

By the early 2000s, the term had started to fall out of favor, while the major artists kept on making high quality recordings. The wide range of stylescovered by the term had robbed it of its usefulness almost from the moment it was coined.

Closely related to post-rock is the genre known as Math rock, characterized by more percussive timbres, and more dissonant harmonic gestures.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Post-rock".

POST-ROCK TEAM MEMBERS:

Angelmk (Angel)Zravkapt (Darryl)The Truth (Tanner)

MATH ROCK :

Math Rock is a genre that emerged in the late 80's and that was influenced by both the intricacies of progressive and avant-garde rock - King Crimson,Frank Zappa, Henry Cow - and 20th century composers such as Steve Reich and John Cage. The music is characterized by complex structures,angular melodies and constant abrupt changes in tempo and time signature. The name Math Rock is a term that grew out of the Chicago scene andthe artists working with engineer Steve Albini in an effort to describe the new style.

The basic building blocks of Math Rock can be traced back to the late 60's and 70's where Progressive Rock artists were making more elaboratecompositions than the standard rock bands and were experimenting with song structures. Early Avant-garde groups like Massacre, and artists such asCaptain Beefheart and John Zorn were highly influential to Math Rock bands and traces of their music can still be heard throughout the genre. Anotherbig influence to the Math Rock approach was Slint with their album "Spiderland" which showcased many techniques that Math Rock bands will follow inthe future. Punk also had significant impact on the sound of Math Rock bands. Other notable influences are: Post-Rock, Heavy Metal, and Jazz.

Although there are Math Rock bands in different countries around the world, most reside in the United States, the Midwest in particular, and tend to bedivided by regions: Pittsburgh bands (Don Caballero, Six Horse) Chicago bands (Shellac, U.S. Maple), Ohio bands (Keelhaul, Craw) Louisville bands(June 44, Rodan, The For Carnation, Crain), and San Diego bands (Drive Like Jehu, Tristeza) among others on both coasts. Japan was also animportant country in the Math Rock genre with bands like Ruins and Zeni Geva.

All Post Rock/Math rock artists list

In the wake of the 60's, a Folk revival started on both sides of the Atlantic, and got quickly linked with a protest movement, not always, but often linkedto more left-wing tendencies, which did not sit well with the authorities. BOB DYLAN, JOAN BAEZ, WOODY GUTHRIE, JOHN DENVER, BUFFY


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STE-MARIE, but also the FARINA couple Richard and Mimi for the US and SHIRLEY COLLINS and EWAN McCOLL (mentor of BERT JANSCH, JOHNRENBOURN ) for the UK and HUGUES AUFRAY in France. In Quebec, there was the "Chansoniers" phenomenon among which CLAUDE LEVEILLEand FELIX LECLERC were the most popular, waking up the sleepy "Belle Province" and stand up for itself from the English rule. The English part ofCanada also brought up JONI MITCHELL, LEONARD COHEN (although he was from Montreal) and NEIL YOUNG.

As DYLAN turned electric with his Highway 61 Revisited album, much to the dislike of purists who yelled for treason, Folk Rock was born, opening thefloodgates for younger artists to turn on the electricity. As DYLAN soon abandoned to style to create Country Rock with his next album, his Britishequivalent Scotsman DONOVAN stayed true to Folk Rock. In the US, THE BYRDS were the main promoters of the style by now, culminating with thesuperb "Eight Miles High" track with a lengthy (for the times) guitar solo of almost one minute. But countless other bands on the west coast, such asLOVE, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE (and later its spin-off HOT TUNA), GRATEFUL DEAD, QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE, PEARLS BEFORESWINE, and TIM BUCKLEY all started in the folk rock realm. Even San Fran's SANTANA with its Latino traditional music and, on the east coast, NY'sTHE LOVING SPOONFUL had folk roots. Notwithstanding the immense popularity of SIMON & GARFUNKEL and their delicious harmonies, Folk Rockwas appealing only to the rock public as the older generations turned their backs in folkies.

In the UK, following on their countrymen DONOVAN, many Scotsmen were very influent in exploring new grounds for folk rock: INCREDIBLE STRINGBAND (led by Scots Palmer and Williamson) with their two highly influential albums "5000 Layers Or The Spirit Of The Onion" & "The Hangman'sBeautiful Daughter" and THE PENTANGLE (led by other Scots Renbourn, Jansch and McShee and their superb bassist Danny Thompson) and itsincredible fusion of folk, blues and jazz style were very instrumental in developing the style to the same extent as FAIRPORT CONVENTION and THESTRAWBS who by that time were still more conventional US "west-coast folk rock". The single artistes in folk rock became known as Folk Troubadourswere also numerous and often presented a more progressive side of folk: AL STEWART, NICK DRAKE, ROY HARPER, TYRANOSAURUS REX(actually a duo of Steven Took and Marc Bolan) , JOHN MARTYN etc.

However, the real angular album that will lead to further change of Folk Rock is FAIRPORT CONVENTION's "Liege & Lief" album, that proved to behighly influential for another generation of groups: this album concentrated into electrifying seminal English traditional folk and retained that quaintEnglishness taste. It is interesting to see that both leaders of FAIRPORT quit the band after this success to go their respective way: Sandy Denny to asolo folk songwriting career and Ashley Hutchings to a very traditional folk rock. By this time, most connoisseur were talking of Acid Folk, Psych Folk,and Progressive Folk, all having limited differences and no particularly drawn-out limits or boundaries, but all relying on experimental or groundbreakingadventures and good musicianship but not necessarily of an acoustic nature.

Groups like THE THIRD EAR BAND and QUINTESSENCE relied on eastern Indian music influences and, sometimes, medieval tones. Other groupslike the weird COMUS, THE TREES, SPIROGYRA, FOREST, the superb JAN DUKES DE GREY (all listed in the ProgArchives) but also TRADERHORNE, TUDOR LODGE, FOTHERINGAY, MAGNA CARTA, TIR NA NOG (all of whom could also be in the ProgArchives) were out to break newground but with less commercial success as their predecessor. By 1972, all of the glorious precursors bands were selling fewer records and hadproblems renewing themselves and a newer generation of groups was relying in a more Celtic jigs or really traditional sounds. Such as HORSLIPS,DANDO SHAFT, STEELEYE SPAN, AMAZING BLONDEL, ALBION DANCE BAND and SPRIGUNS OF TOLGUS. Although JETHRO TULL had somedefinitive folk roots right from the start, their only albums that can be regarded as Prog Folk are 77's Songs From The Woods and 78's Heavy Horses.Ian Anderson (another Scots) was very keen in acoustical traditional songs. Some Folk Troubadours such as TIM BUCKLEY and JOHN MARTYNstarted turning records more and more axed towards fusing jazz and folk (a bit in what THE PENTANGLE were doing) , others became more and moreelectric and they started to be referred to as Singer Songwriters especially those with country rock influences.

In Germany, HOELDERLIN (and their fantastic debut album), EMTIDI, OUGENWEIDE, CAROL OF HARVEST, WITTHEUSER & WESTRUPP wereexploring German folk while KALACAKRA , SILOAH and EMBRYO were indulging with Indian music. In South America, most notably in Chile, LOSJAIVAS (very bent upon Andean Indian music) and EL CONGRESSO (more Spanish-Latino folklore) were using folk in their rock, so much that somepress talked about them referring it with the hateful term Inca Rock. In Quebec, the progressive movement exploded with the cultural identity and theChansoniers tradition and this was carried out with LES SEGUIN and HARMONIUM and so many more. In France, many groups were out for folk rocksuch as RIBEIRO ALPS, TANGERINE, and ASGARD. In Spain, Flamenco playing a dominant role as well as Basque folk, TRIANA, ITOIZ and HAIZEAwere the head of the movement once the Franco regime fell apart after his death.


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There is also a very important medieval music influences dimension in some groups as the term Medieval Folk was also mentioned for a while butapparently dropped by musicologists. Among the UK groups are obviously GRYPHON, GENTLE GIANT and THIRD EAR BAND, in France:MALICORNE and RIPAILLE and in Scandinavia: ALGARNAS TRADGARD and FOLQUE.

Hugues Chantraine


ClemOfNazarethKenneth LevineSean Trane

All Prog Folk artists list

No musical genre exists in a vacuum. Not all of the bands that have been a part of the history and development of progressive rock are necessarilyprogressive rock bands themselves. This is why progarchives has included a genre called prog-related, so we could include all the bands thatcomplete the history of progressive rock, whether or not they were considered full-fledged progressive rock bands themselves.

There are many criteria that the prog-related evaluation team considers when deciding which bands are considered prog-related. Very few bands willmeet all of this criteria, but this list will give an idea as to some of the things that help evaluate whether an artists is prog-related or not.

1) Influence on progressive rock - The groundbreaking work of artists like Led Zepplin and David Bowie affected many genres of rock, including attimes progressive rock. Although both of these artists created rock music in a dizzying array of genres, both contributed to the ongoing history ofprogressive rock several times within the span of their careers.

2) Location - Progressive rock did not develop at the same time all over the world. It may surprise some people that as late as the mid-70s the US hadvery few original progressive rock bands that did not sound like exact copies of British bands. Journey was one of the first US bands to present auniquely American brand of prog-rock before they eventually became a mainstream rock band. We have collaborators from all over the world who tellus which bands helped the progressive rock scene develop in their corner of the globe, even if those bands were like Journey and were known morefor being mainstream rock bands.

3) Members of important progressive rock bands - Although most of the recorded solo output of artists like Greg Lake and David Gilmour falls more in amainstream rock style, their contributions to progressive rock in their respective bands insures them a place in our prog-related genre.

4) Timeliness - Like many genres, prog-rock has had its ups and downs. In the late 70s and early 80s prog-rock was barely a blip on the radar. Duringthis time artists such as David Bowie and Metallica released albums that captured key elements of the spirit of prog rock and did so while contributing


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their own original modern elements to the mix.

5) Integral part of the prog-rock scene - Sometimes you just had to be a part of the scene during a certain time period to understand how some bandsfit with the prog rock scene of their time. Although Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Wishbone Ash may seem like mere hard rock bands, in their timethey stood apart from other hard rockers with their more serious lyrical content and more developed compositions. Put simply, in the early 70s everyprog-rock record collector usually had full collections of all three of these artists. These three bands were very much part of the prog-rock scenewithout being total prog-rock bands them selves.

6) Influenced by progressive rock - From the late 60s till about 1976 the progressive tendency was in full effect in almost all genres of music. Onceagain, as we enter the second decade of the 21st century a melting pot of prog-metal, math-rock, progressive electronics and post-rock influenceshave once again made a progressive tendency in rock music almost more a norm than a difference. Yet in other periods of musical history receivinginfluence from progressive rock could really set a band apart and make them worthy of our prog-related category.Being influenced by progressive rock is hardly the only factor we look at, and in some periods of musical history it is almost meaningless, but still, it isalmost a given that most of the artists listed in prog-related were influenced by the development of progressive rock.

7) Common sense - Nitpicking over the above listed criteria is not necessarily the correct way to evaluate a band for prog-related. Sometimes you justhave to use some common sense and look at the big picture.A very good way to describe prog-related would be to imagine an exhaustive book that covered the history of progressive rock. Would such a bookinclude references to led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven', David Bowie's 'The Man Who Sold the World' or Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'? Probablyso.- Easy Money

All Prog Related artists list

Born in the late 60's after the expansion of avant-gardist, modern, post-modern and minimalist experimentation, the progressive electronic movementimmediately guides us into a musical adventure around technologies and new possibilities for composition. As an author or a searcher, the musicianoften creates his own modules and electronic combinations, deciding his own artistic and musical action. The visionary works of Stockhausen,Subotnick, John Cage ("concrete" music, electro-acoustic experimentation), La Monte Young, Steve Reich, Terry Riley (minimal, micro-tonal music)express a vision of total reconstruction in the current musical world. Luminous works such as "A Rainbow in Curved Air" (1967) and "Silver Apples ofthe Moon" (1967) bring an inflexion on opened forms and new ways to explore the essence and the physical aspects of sounds (through time andspace). "Static" textures, collages & long running sounds, the power of technology previously exposed in ambitious classical works will have a majorimpact in "popular" electronic music.

After the artisan & innovative uses of magnetic tapes, feedback, microphones, etc., the instrumental synthesis, the elaboration of global sound formsand the psycho-acoustic interactions will be sublimated thanks to the launch of the analog synth. A great improvement happened in 1964 with theappearance of the first modular synthesiser (Moog). This material (or "invention") brings the answer to the technological aspirations of many musicians,mainly after the release of the popular "Switched on Bach" (Walter Carlos) and Mother Mallard's portable masterpiece (pieces composed between1970-73).

At the beginning of popular essays in electronica, the pioneering technologies (in term of recording and sound transmission) will not be abandoned. Forinstance, "Tone Float" (1969) by Organisation (pre-Kraftwerk), "Zwei Osterei" & "Klopzeichen" (1969-70) by Kluster and "Irrlicht" (1972) by Klaus


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Schulze will carry on the domestication of the electric energy and the use of refined harmoniums, organs and echo machines. During the 70's decade,European groups & musicians such as Eno, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream will make their name in the music industry thanks to an abundant use ofanalog synthesisers and original electronic combinations. After weird, mysterious experimentation on conventional acoustic & electric instruments,Kraftwerk enjoyed huge success in popular music thanks to "mechanical electronic pop music". "Trans Europe Express" (1977) and "The ManMachine" (1978) figure as two commercial classics. The German spacey electronic scene launched by Tangerine Dream with their outstanding "AlphaCentauri" (1971) and Cluster "I" & "II" (1971-72) will have echoes everywhere, starting from the Berlin underground electronic scene (the Berlin School)with Klaus Schulze ("Timewind" 1974), Michael Hoenig ("Departure from the Northern Wasteland" 1978), Ashra ("New Age of Earth" 1976), ConradSchnitzler's buzz-drones and repetitive electronics ("Zug", "Blau", Gold" 1972-74) . After several innovations always from Germany we notice the dark,doomy atmospheric manifests of Nekropolis (Peter Frohmader) in "Le culte des Goules" (1981), Asmus Tietchens in his colourful and engaged "Biotop"(1981) and the semi-ambient "Hermeneutic Music" (1988) by Lars Troschen (sound sculptor and synthesist).

In France, the "hypnotic" and "propulsive" electronic essays of Heldon ("Electronic Guerrilla" 1974) and Lard Free ("Spiral Malax"1977) introduce aninclination for industrial, urban and post-modern sound projections. The French "avant gardist" Philippe Besombes takes back the inspiration of "concrete music" (Pierre Henry.) and mixes it to a hybrid rocking universe (published in 1973, "Libra" figures as a true classic). Bernard Xolotl in"Prophecy" (1981), "Procession" / "Last Wave" (1983), Zanov (Green Ray, 1976) and Didier Bocquet (Voyage cerebral, 1978) will follow the musicalpath anticipated by Klaus Schulze in his kosmische electronic symphonies.

At the end of the 70's until the debut of the 80's Albums as "ambient 1: Music for Airports" (Brian Eno), "Cluster & Eno", "Deluxe" (Hans JoachimRoedelius side project called Harmonia) will announce the emergence of the famous ambient movement, musically characterised by gorgeousshimmering atmospheric textures.

During the 80's, Maurizio Bianchi will be in search of the absolute industrial "post-nuclear" sound tapestry. His visionary musical experience is based oncyclical loops, abrasive concrete noises and vertiginous piano dreamscapes. ("Symphony for a Genocide" 1981 and recently the mesmerising "A.M.BIehn Tale" 2005). Before M.B and the industrial-bruitist wave, the 70's Italian specialists of electronic experiments had been (among others) FrancescoCabiati (Mirage, 1979), Francesco Bucherri (Journey, 1979), and Francesco Messina for representative, lyrical and spacey orchestrations and alsoFuturo Antica (D'ai primitivi all'elettronica, 1980) or Telaio Magnetico (Live' 75) for tripped out minimalism.

In the early 1980s and after following the kosmische path of classic Klaus Schulze, The Bay Area / Los Angeles school of electronic created the socalled "alchemical" / "Sacred" space music. The music offers a dynamic combination between ancient-traditional music of the West and synthesisedsonic soundscapes. The most representative artists of this movement are Michael Stream (Lyra Sound Constellation, 1983) Robert Rich (Numena,1987) and Steve Roach (Dreamtime Return, 1988).

In the early 80s Ian Boddy (Spirits, 1984 / Phoenix, 1986) and Mark Shreeve (Assassin, 1983 / Legion, 1984) unique spacedout synthesised sagasrepresented the british answer to the challenging Berlin kosmische school. Their music embodies timbral drone sequences, systematic arpeggiationsand synth-pop textures.

Young contemporary bands and artists in electronic experimentation took their inspiration from the 70's "kosmische" analog synth psychedelica of KlausSchulze, Conrad Schnitzler, Tangerine Dream, etc. In the spaced out synthesisers spectrum, modern Japanese artists as Yamazaki Maso (noisy avantgarde experimentor who contributes to the Kawabata's projects named Andromelos, Christina 23 onna and Father Moo & the Black sheeps) or TakushiYamazaki (Space Machine) are key figures. The minimal, moody / lysergic epic soundscapes of Omit (Clinton Williams), Cloudland Canyon, Astralsocial club or Zombi also contribute to the renewal of the "cosmic" synth genre. Many modern electronic artists have taken an original musical direction,surfing on post-krautrock ambient waves (Aethenor), on spherical "abstract" ambient minimalism (Pete Namlook, Biosphere, Robert Henke) or ontrancey, (post) industrial drone hypnosis (Alio Die / Amon / Nimh for the italian side and Andrew Chalk with his respective projects Mirror, Monos andOra).

To sum up things, the progressive electronic subgenre is dedicated to intricate, moving, cerebral, intrusive electronic experiences that get involved in"kosmische", dark ambient, (post) industrial, droning, surreal or impressionist soundscapes territories.


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Philippe BLACHE


PhilippeGuldbamsen (David)

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This category represents the core movement of what is called "Progressive Metal" in the literal sense. It is a subgenre of progressive rock as much as itis a subgenre of heavy metal, and this is how its sound is defined: a blend of heavy, guitar-oriented metal music enriched with compositional innovationand complex arrangements, usually expressed through diverse instrumentation and often (but not always) with odd-time signatures. Common, but notessential to define the movement, are the frequent use of keyboards, high-pitched vocals, concept lyrical themes and tracks of longer duration. Similarto progressive rock, progressive metal draws influences from other genres, such as jazz/fusion, ethnic, classical and symphonic music.

The Origins:The heavy sound of some of the progressive rock bands of the 70's has been one of the building blocks on which progressive metal was raised.Progressive rock pioneers such as KING CRIMSON and RUSH have often been acclaimed as the main influences of progressive metal bands. Theother major influence has been the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) movement, and especially the twin-guitar arrangements of IRONMAIDEN, which have left their stamp on the early stages of the genre's development.

The Pioneers:Often (and not unjustifiably) referred to as the "Big Three" of progressive metal, QUEENSRYCHE, FATES WARNING and DREAM THEATER have setthe scene of what was to follow in the movement. The defining era for the genre was the second half of the 80's, among QUEENSRYCHE's "TheWarning" (1984) and (most explicitly) "Rage for Order" (1986) along with FATES WARNING's "Awaken the Guardian" (1986) and "No Exit" (1988)releases. The former evolved on their pure American power metal beginnings, while the latter refined their technical/NWOBHM-influenced metal intomore progressive forms. Although producing demos since the mid-80's as MAJESTY, DREAM THEATER's first release came in 1989 with "A Dreamand Day Unite". The innovative use of keyboards along with influences from American heavy/power metal and progressive rock produced an originalblend which was to be further refined in 1992's "Images and Words", which until this day remains next to "Progressive Metal" definition in any musicaldictionary.

Among the pioneers of the genre, but enjoying less success and popularity, were PSYCHOTIC WALTZ and SIEGES EVEN. The former wereessentially playing progressive metal as ASLAN in the mid-80's and developed a highly eclectic sound in the 90's. The latter's debut classifies themamong the European prog-thrash pioneers but their music evolved to more melodic patterns and heavily influenced by RUSH in the early 90's.

Progressive metal is difficult to further divide in sub-genres but a number of tendencies or movements have been critical to the evolvement of its sound.

Traditional Progressive MetalThe style developed by the pioneers was fully established in the 1990s and includes a range of bands from the two sides of the Atlantic. Goodexamples in this movement are SAVATAGE, who expanded their heavy metal beginnings with operatic and progressive elements in late 80's/early 90's,


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while SHADOW GALLERY and SYMPHONY X emerged with a unique sound, each embodying a strong theatrical, symphonic and melodic approach.In Europe, SOUL CAGES continued the legacy of SIEGES EVEN in a more artistic path.

Power-Progressive Metal (American style)The legacy of RIOT (the counterpart of NWOBHM sound in USA) and the early releases of QUEENSRYCHE and FATES WARNING heavily influenceda number of bands that were to develop a common sound towards the late 80's. Among the well-known representatives of what is called AmericanPower Metal (e.g. VICIOUS RUMORS, HELSTAR), a small number of bands enriched their sound with progressive and epic elements. Probably, themost obvious examples of this movement are CRIMSON GLORY and HEIR APPARENT.

Power-Progressive Metal (European style)This category includes a broad range of bands that could sound fairly dissimilar to each other but their music is significantly influenced by theEuropean Power Metal (primarily German) bands of the 80's (e.g. HELLOWEEN, RAGE, RUNNING WILD). The earliest examples are probably BLINDGUARDIAN, ANGRA (although Brazilian, their sound is mainly European) and CONCEPTION. Slightly later, VANDEN PLAS, ROYAL HUNT,ELDRITCH and LABYRINTH gave rise to the popularity of the genre in Germany, Denmark and Italy respectively. The symphonic and neo-classicalelements (made popular by YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) also found their way through power metal with bands like RHAPSODY OF FIRE and NIGHTWISH,whose style does not qualify as being progressive for many people. Nevertheless their music is quite demanding to play and contains many elements ofserious classical composition and form.

Modern Progressive MetalThe second half of the 90's and the early 00's also saw newly formed bands expanding the boundaries of Traditional Progressive Metal via a number ofways: introducing electronic/spacey elements, investing heavily in lyricality and/or syncopation and further rhythmical experimentation. Also the idea ofthematically conceptual albums has returned in accord with the practices of the Progressive Metal pioneers. Well-known examples in this category areAYREON, PAIN OF SALVATION and RIVERSIDE.

--- Definition by Thanos and the Progressive Metal Team, January 2012 ---


All Progressive Metal artists list

The denomination Proto Prog comes from the combination of two words, Proto from the Greek The earliest,. and Prog which as we know is a shortterm for Progressive Rock, so as it's name clearly indicates, refers to the earliest form of Progressive Rock or Progressive Rock in embryonary state.


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These bands normally were formed and released albums before Progressive Rock had completely developed (there are some rare Proto Prog bandsfrom the early 70's, because the genre didn't expanded to all the Continents simultaneously

The common elements in all these bands is that they developed one or more elements of Prog, and even when not completely defined as part of thegenre, they are without any doubt, an important stage in the evolution of Progressive Rock.

Generally, Proto Prog bands are the direct link between Psyche and Prog and for that reason the Psychedelic components are present in the vastmajority of them, but being that Progressive Rock was born from the blending of different genres, we have broadened the definition to cover any bandthat combined some elements of Progressive Rock with other genres prior to 1970.

Some of these bands evolved and turned into 100% Prog, while others simply choose another path, but their importance and contribution in theformative period of Prog can't be denied, for that reason no Prog site can ignore them.

Iván Melgar - Morey

All Proto-Prog artists list

Psychedelic Progressive Rock

Progressive rock music has its roots in the mid 1960's psychedelic cultural phenomena. During that time the British Invasion and folk-rock bands beganto expand the sonic possibilities of their music. These groups slowly started to abandon the concise verse-chorus-verse patterns of rock & roll, andmoved towards fluid, free-form oriented song structures. Just as important was the incorporation of elements from Indian and Eastern music. Alongthem the principles of free-form jazz were included to the psychedelic sound, emphasising spontaneous emotions over calculated and estimatedcompositional constructions. Experimenting with new studio technology, electronically altering instruments and voices, was a part of this alteredapproach as well. Acid rock groups like THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE and CREAM stand as descriptive and popular examples of the path frompsychedelic sunshine pop towards a more aggressive and distinct rock expression, in particular showcased in their improvised live performances.

The boundary dividing the "Experimental" and "Progressive" classification is a thin and at times contested one for this era. The pioneering psychedelicprogressive rock bands to be found at www.progarchives.com will in most cases be found in the Proto-Prog section of the site. Amongst thesepioneering outfits are acts like THE BEATLES, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE AND VANILLA FUDGE. Artists such as PINK FLOYD will not be found therethough, as their career extended well beyond these first, formative years.

Psychedelic progressive rock music may contain the elements previously described in varying combinations, but the artistic perspective of progressiverock is another factor. Some psychedelic rock bands stuck to the mid 1960's beat rock style in purist form, not partaking in the experimentaldevelopment of the impressionistic possibilities of psychedelic rock music others spearheaded. The evolution of the psychedelic depth within aprogressive context could be seen for instance in the 1960's recordings of ARCADIUM and BABY GRANDMOTHERS. One good example of early 70'sContinental European progressive psychedelic rock is the album by AHORA MAZDA, and from Britain JADE WARRIOR's early efforts fuse psychedelicrock and ethnic music. Current artists exploring the vintage 60's/70's style and sound are acts like THE SPACIOUS MINDS and ACID MOTHER'STEMPLE.


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The entire Western pop culture scene was influenced by the psychedelic culture to some extent, including other prog genres such as Prog Folk. InGermany, artists influenced by the British psychedelic movement formed their own genre called KRAUTROCK. The pioneering early 70's bands in thisgenre represent the progressive acid rock sound of Germany, experimenting with long instrumental improvisations, emphasizing the use of psychedeliceffects and weird electronic sounds. Some examples are artists like AMON DÜÜL, ASH RA TEMPEL, CAN, GÄA, NECRONOMICON and YATHASIDHRA. The PROGRESSIVE ELECTRONIC style emerged from Krautrock. Some of the most influential artists of this genre, such as TANGERINEDREAM and KLAUS SCHULZE, explored a distinct psychedelic musical style at first, which was influential for the development of the "space rock"sound:

Progressive Space Rock

The late 1960's psychedelic rock scene also spawned the birth of the space rock genre. The pioneering acts of this genre assimilated krautrockelements like repetitive hypnotic beats and electronic/ambient soundscapes as they moved away from the common musical and compositionalapproach. The synthesizer with its bubbling tones and spacey patterns, provoking a gliding flow, is a typical instrument of this genre. Guitars are bypreference played with glissando technique and delay/echo effects are heavily used, and elements originating from reggae/dub are fairly common.Several bands combine their live performances with trippy lightshows using random fractals. Albums in this genre will often include at least one longmeandering jam based on a main theme, where loops and wavelike fluctuations provides slight variations to this structural foundation.

Stories, images, song titles and album names referring to cosmic themes are fairly common features of the genre. HAWKWIND's live album "SpaceRitual" is said to be the ultimate space rock album due to the collaboration with sci-fi author Michael Moorcock. His lyrics are performed by a narratorand underlaid with synth elements. PINK FLOYD can be regarded as pioneers of spacey music during the band's early phase, as exemplified by certaintracks from "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" or the stirring live performance of "Careful With That Axe Eugene" from "Ummagumma".GROBSCHNITT provides another fine example of classic space rock with their epic effort "Solar Music". Other bands explored the space rock soundfor a limited time period only. GONG released groundbreaking albums in the genre at the start of their career, while British hard rock band UFOreleased the extraordinary album "Flying - One Hour Space Rock" as their sole contribution to the genre in 1971.

A space rock scene can be found in most countries sporting artists producing music with a western-oriented or influenced sound. Swedish bands areknown for a brisk exchange of musicians among each other. The "Strange Daze" festivals from 1997-2000 showcased the American space rock scene.Japan is an inexhaustible reservoir of artists exploring both psychedelic progressivce rock and progressive space rock. Representative examples of thestyle are bands such as ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE with their focus on long grooving improvisations, QUARKSPACE and OZRIC TENTACLESwith their stronger emphasis on electronic elements and VESPERO and HIDRIA SPACEFOLK with their inclusion of ethnic-originating musicalcomponents. Other groups like ESCAPADE and THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS represent an avantgarde approach to the genre, whereasSUBARACHNOID SPACE and KINSKI are examples of artists that provide transitions to the post rock genre.

The boundaries of Psychedelic Progressive Rock conn ected with Stoner Rock and Acid Folk

The 1960's and 70's were a time of liberation, a time of rebellion against rigid rules and strict moral boundaries. In those "freedom of expression" days,an artist would typically herald their liberal attitudes as a mind-expanding trip on stage together with the audience in two ways. One was to realizeaudio/visually the visual and auditory hallucination as it was, and another was to play their repertoire spiritually and improvisationally under the trip. Asfor the latter approach, they devoted themselves solely to slow-to-mid tempo playing with low-tuned guitars in a heavy and expansive manner forplaying steadily under this twilight condition. In the same time period, this approach to the musical trip was also taken on by some artists especially inthe hard rock and heavy metal scene. This new style, drenched in heavy and downer psychedelia, was called "Stoner Rock". The name originates fromthe expression "stoned", referring to people in altered states of mind while under the influence of psychedelic substances. The Stoner Rock genre wasuniversalized "as a strict musical style only" by the Industrial Grunge Rock genre that gained worldwide popularity in the early 1990s. The commondenominator of all the artists mentioned is the representation of their personal cultural and political backgrounds, whilst playing slow-paced depressivesongs with heavy guitars and echoic rumbling drums as the dominating features. Most of current outfits claiming to be the so-called Psychedelic Heavy


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Progressive Rock ones should be much influenced by the traditional Stoner or Grunge Rock as well as the early Psychedelic Progressive Rock. Theycan be considered as a borderline case between Psychedelic Progressive, Heavy Progressive, and Progressive Metal.

"Acid Folk" can be mentioned as another musical style with hallucinogenic approach. Psych Folk or Psychedelic Folk are other names for this genre,and is vaguely defined as a rock subgenre due to the mixture of folk rock and psychedelic rock. This is a style lacking in strict definitions, and it iscontested whether or not the term was actually used at what is deemed the dawn of the genre. It's an undeniable fact that the Acid Folk scene gainedsome popularity by the efforts of artists in "The Folk Revivalism", but it's important to remember that there were two distinctly different approachestaken by those who helped shape the genre in the mid 1960's. Some folk singers approached a psychedelic rock structure as was popular at that time,while some psychedelic rock outfits tried to absorb and incorporate techniques and elements from folk rock. Both have great importance in thedevelopment of Acid Folk, and this may be the reason that strict definitions of the genre cannot be given. In view of the history, it's no exaggeration toclaim that TYRANNOSAURUS REX, SYD BARRETT or THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND in UK rock scene seasoned the "traditional" Acid Folk witha more progressive spice. They, as eccentric or heretical rock outfits, accepted and incorporated Middle-Eastern and Oriental elements or instruments,and the result was the foundation for the current progressive Acid Folk movement. And in the Eastern parts of the world, different acid streams wasprovided by artists such as TAJ MAHAL TRAVELLERS or MAGICAL POWER MAKO who exerted a great influence on younger progressive bands.Their amazing achievements resides in the twilight zone between the Prog Folk and Psychedelic Prog subgenres.

A path that never ends

In addition of the styles described, psychedelic elements can be found in many other genres of progressive rock. The psychedelic cultural explosionhad an immense influence on the western popular culture, and traces of it can still be heard also outside of progressive rock circles. The collectivetechno rave parties carry on the legacy of the audiovisual attack from the PINK FLOYD concerts in 1968, to cite one example. As the psychedelicmovement was a large cultural phenomenon, it is difficult (and maybe unnecessary) to fence it to a clear category. Psychedelic progressive rock hasbeen developing towards several different directions over time, and the task of classifying them as distinct genres and sub-genres is an ever ongoingprocess, often loaded with strong opinions. The psychedelic rock artists which are not considered as progressive in style are not listed in the databseof www.Progarchives.com. This in order to maintain the site's scope to be a progressive rock reference.

The aim of this description is to be a tool of reference for potential and existing fans of the genre, and we hope that this will aid those who read it to abetter understanding of the genre as well as to enjoy and discuss the subject at hand both in the forums of the Progarchives website as well as in otherplaces online and offline both.

Psychedelic Rock / Space Rock team April 2010

Space rock definition by RivertreeThe boundaries of psychedelic progressive rock chapter by DamoXt7942Other text by Eetu Pellonpääwith kind guidance and support by Windhawk

Current Psychedelic/Space Rock Team Membersas at June 2013

Uwe (Rivertree)Keishiro (DamoXt7942)Chester (The Doctor)

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Avant-Prog

Avant-prog is an umbrella term which refers to any progressive rock artist with a strong leaning towards avant-garde and highly experimentalapproaches to music. Therefore, it includes the sub-genres of Rock In Opposition (see below) and Zeuhl in addition to general avant-prog artists.

Avant-prog is generally considered to be more extreme and 'difficult' than other forms of progressive rock, though these terms are naturally subjectiveand open to interpretation. Common elements that may or may not be displayed by specific avant-prog artists include:

- Regular use of dissonance and atonality.- Extremely complex and unpredictable song arrangements.- Free or experimental improvisation.- Fusion of disparate musical genres.- Polyrhythms and highly complex time signatures.

Most avant-prog artists are highly unique and eclectic in sound and consequently tend to resist easy comparisons. However, Frank Zappa is often citedas a major influence on many avant-prog artists due to his early adoption of avant-garde and experimental attitudes within a predominantly rock/jazzcontext.

Rock In Opposition

Rock In Opposition (RIO for short) is the name of a short-lived movement that has gone on to define a sub-genre of progressive rock, and which is nowsometimes applied to musicians whose careers hadn't even started by the time the movement had ceased to exist in any official capacity. It is notsynonymous with the term avant-prog, for whilst bands associated with RIO are (generally speaking) avant-prog in nature, most avant-prog bands arenot associated with RIO.

The roots of RIO can be traced to Henry Cow, a UK progressive rock band with a distinctly avant-garde sound and left wing political ideology. HenryCow toured extensively in Europe throughout much of the 1970s and came into contact with a few similarly inclined bands, in an ideological sense asmuch, if not more, than a musical one. These groups did not always have much in common stylistically, apart from a basic leaning towards fusingavant-garde qualities with elements of rock. Most of these bands were working independently at the time and had no distribution or realistic opportunityof touring outside their native countries. The idea of Rock In Opposition was to create an independent network of like-minded performers that would notbe dependent on the largesse of major record companies for their survival.

Henry Cow invited four of these bands to play alongside them at the first Rock in Opposition festival on 12th March 1978, at the New London Theatre,Drury Lane in London. The British Arts Council helped the funding of the festival with a £1000 grant. The Rock in Opposition slogan "The music therecord companies don't want you to hear" was altered very slightly for the flyer advertising the first Rock in Opposition concert.

The five initial Rock in Opposition bands were:

Henry Cow (England)Univers Zero (Belgium)


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Etron Fou Leloublan (France)Samla Mammas Manna (Sweden)Stormy Six (Italy)

Three additional bands were later officially elected to the movement:

Art Zoyd (France)Art Bears (England)Aksak Maboul (Belgium)

The involved bands had many disagreements in a meeting at Sunrise Studios in Kirchberg, Switzerland in December 1978 about the purpose of thegroup, and its meaning. They eventually came up with a plan to continue their joint concerts. They organised three more festivals and co-operativerecord distributions but eventually the RIO group dissolved. It left behind a legacy that would initially be picked up by later projects from the manymusicians involved with the original movement, and later on by artists inspired by the original RIO groups. Miriodor and Ensemble Nimbus are oftensaid to be influenced by Samla Mammas Manna, for example, and are consequently sometimes referred to as RIO bands.

Since 2007, a contemporary RIO festival has been held most years in Carmaux, France. This festival has included artists closely associated with theoriginal RIO movement alongside bands from the wider world of avant-prog and experimental music.

Dates of the original RIO festivals

12 March 1978 at New London Theatre, Drury Lane, London, England (set up by Henry Cow)26 April 1979 to 1 May 1979 at Teatro dell'Elfo, Milano, Italia (set up by Stormy Six)28/29 September 1979 in Uppsala, Sweden (set up by Samla Mammas Manna)Bruxelles, Belgium (set up by Univers Zero)

Useful links

Information on RIO from Chris Cutler's website

Additional historical information on Squidco

Written/Compiled/Edited by past and present members of the RIO/Avant-Prog team

Current team members:as at 01/01/2013

Luca (octopus-4)Steve (HolyMoly)Jon (SaltyJon)Matt (A Person)Keishiro (DamoXt7942)

All RIO/Avant-Prog artists list


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aka "RPI"

"So it's an established fact that in Italy during the period between 1971-1974, a music movement existed where bands would challenge each other tosee who could be the most imaginative, who could create the album for the ages. They were all painters and sculptors just as in Renaissance Italy."-Tom Hayes/Gnosis

1. The backgroundAs the 60s drew to an end, Italy experienced a wave of new ideas and ideals which coincided with the new musical era being born. It would not beexaggeration to state that the 70s were a watershed period in the history of the country. Even though the 60s are generally remembered as the years ofthe 'economic boom', it was only in the following decade that Italy made the long, difficult change from a relatively poor, traditional country into a fullydeveloped Western society. A look at any timeline for 70s Italy will show an incredible concentration of events that changed the fabric of Italian societyirrevocably: laws and acts were passed which affected worker's rights, family and divorce law, and women's rights and reproductive health. In a countrywhere the physical presence of the Catholic Church has always been impossible to overlook, not least because of its open intervention in the country'spolitical affairs, the introduction of such radical changes was no small feat.

Most of those changes were made possible by the presence of a strong left-wing component in Italian political life, even if regarded with extremesuspicion by both the Church and Italy's main ally, the United States. Though the existence of a party that openly called itself Communist was notexclusive to Italy, at the time the PCI (Partito Comunista Italiano) was considered more of a danger than, for instance, its French equivalent - mainly dueto Italy's strategic position in the Mediterranean area, as well as the party's obvious connection with the Soviet Union. Such a peculiar, potentiallyexplosive situation sadly became a breeding ground for a number of extremist groups, who were responsible for the season of violence and unrestcommonly known as the 'Anni di piombo' ('years of lead'), which lasted well into the first half of the Eighties. The number of casualties due to terror actsand rioting was quite high, involving people from all walks of life. However, the defining episode of the decade was the kidnapping and subsequentmurder of well-known politician Aldo Moro (a left-leaning Christian Democrat) by the notorious Brigate Rosse ('Red Brigades') in the spring of 1978.

2. The birth of a movementThe turbulent times affected countless musicians looking for something new-some way to parallel the political climate through artistic media. Rangingfrom highly educated conservatory students to local singer-songwriters, this spirit managed to captivate an entire country within a few short years.Young people were restless, bursting with a burning desire to change the staid, suffocating atmosphere of Italian society starting with one of itssymbols, its venerable musical tradition. Most musicians had more or less strong left-wing leanings (the prime example being Area), while the fewexamples of openly right-wing bands never managed to break out of obscurity, or gain more than a strictly cult following.

Without a strong rock tradition in the 60s Italy had mainly produced beat bands of varying quality, as well as singers well-versed in the long-standingcanzone tradition of the country. As the tidal wave of counter-culture swept in, it brought revolution not only in the form of progressive rock, but alsodiffering forms of heavier, continental rock which was establishing itself around the same time. Psychedelic influences and the incorporation of classicalmusic may have been the same stepping stones used by most other progressive scenes around the globe during the same period, but even at thisembryonic stage there was a whiff of something else in the air. In the late 60s when the beat scene was already heading towards a decline, a numberof bands formed, some of them releasing singles (or even albums) that bridged the gap between beat, conventional Italian easy listening music (musicaleggera), and the new ideas coming from Great Britain - among them, New Trolls, Le Orme, Panna Fredda, I Quelli (later to become Premiata ForneriaMarconi), Il Mucchio, and Fabio Celi e gli Infermieri.


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"We wanted to put some improvisations between the singing parts and we had to make up our minds about the style to follow... After having been tothe Isle of Wight festival, it was clear to all of us that we couldn't keep on playing the usual songs with verses and refrains." -Toni Pagliuca, Le Orme

3. The golden yearsThe beginning of the new decade saw the rise of a countless number of bands and artists, some of whom would go on to become successful acts.PFM, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Osanna, Il Balletto di Bronzo, Quella Vecchia Locanda belong to this group, with all but the latter being still active atthe time of writing. Some others only managed to release one album (or even just a handful of singles) before they disbanded. The prog-rock bugbecame so widespread in Italy that some experts say every artist and band in Italy produced at least one progressive album during this time. A numberof well-known mainstream artists started their career with a prog album, like singer-songwriters Riccardo Cocciante (with Mu) and Ivano Fossati (withthe first Delirium album, Dolce acqua). Or, like Lucio Battisti or Fabrizio De André, they released strongly prog-influenced albums when the movementwas at its height.

During the peak years of the RPI movement in the early 70s, countless bands showcased their talent in the many pop festivals organized throughoutItaly. The festivals were often free of charge and boasted a level artistic freedom and competition seldom seen in popular music. Fans witnessed bandsrise from obscurity to compete on the same stage as the heavy hitters. This musical competition created something of an upward spiral; everyone triedto outdo each other, producing unique sounds and incorporating disparate influences into their music. The variety of the music went through the roof,with every band sharing the same aspirations, though seldom the same sound. It must also be made clear that despite the beliefs of those who write offItalian prog as simply a British counterfeit, many of these bands were creating music that was phenomenally original, experimental, free-spirited, andcreatively successful. While bands from abroad helped influence and inspire Italian bands, Italy's young bands quickly took the ball and ran with it. It isludicrous to suggest the scene a mere imitation. The upward spiral also meant an over saturated market, in which many bands only managed to put outone or two releases with minimal budget and intense recording. Some of the best, most genuine and treasured albums of Rock Progressivo Italiano canbe found in this group: Semiramis' "Dedicato a Frazz", Pholas Dactylus' "Concerto delle menti", Raccomandata Ricevuta di Ritorno's "Per un mondo dicristallo", Museo Rosenbach's "Zarathustra", and Balletto di Bronzo's "Ys" to name just a few.

"We had to tackle this tradition, we had to fight against the conventions and refuse to be integrated. The New Sounds hadn't arrived yet, there was nomusic for the young people, there was nothing, you had to invent and build up your space. Perhaps this was the mainspring that unchained such acreative strength." -Gianni Leone

With time some of the biggest bands achieved international success, with PFM as the best-known example. Lyricist Peter Sinfield, known from his workwith giants like King Crimson and ELP, even wrote for the band, while Peter Hammill provided English lyrics for Le Orme's "Felona e Sorona". Ironicallythis success often meant a detour from the roots of the RPI sounds, making these albums more aligned to the British scene than the bulk of the artistsand albums in the archives. Look beneath the surface in order to discover hidden (or not so hidden) gems. While the oft-mentioned big 3 of Italian prog(PFM, Banco, and Le Orme) are conveniently considered the peak by those casually mentioning this scene, RPI enthusiasts know the river runs somuch deeper, and many of our personal favourites are found outside of these popular groups. Those who search beyond the surface will discover thatthe most daring and provocative works were often made by more obscure groups who released one fantastic album and then vanished into thin air.This common syndrome of Italian "one-shot" bands became the bane of many RPI fans.

Since so many different musicians experimented with the progressive format, you will also find a broad musical scope within RPI, something which haskept the subgenre fresh and vital over time. Examples include Franco Battiato (still a very successful artist in Italy), Picchio dal Pozzo, Opus Avantra,Stormy Six and Area, who each in their own individual way, show a more cosmopolitan flavour and range of influences than most other acts.

After its explosive development in the early 70s, the movement followed the same path as other progressive musical movements around the world asthe 80s approached. Some influential artists continued to release new albums though never with the same success as in the halcyon days. Otherschanged with the times and became highly successful mainstream artists both in Italy and internationally. As elsewhere in the prog universe thequantity and quality of RPI began to dry up a bit in the late 70s and early 80s, although there were some quality releases from that period. These titles


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tended to be more melodic and less brashly avant-garde than the classic period but were respectable nonetheless. To name but a few there wereLocanda Delle Fate, Stefano Testa, Pierpaolo Bibbo, and L'Estate de San Martino. Area, Stormy Six, and PFM had a good title or two left in them aswell.

4. Musical features of RPIItalian symphonic prog is notable for the prominence of classical influences, often providing the driving force behind the music. The new listener willdiscover that this particular branch of RPI feels more like classical music in a rock setting as opposed to occasional classical influences on top of therock format. Furthermore, the rich, diverse musical traditions of Italy permeate the albums, creating a strong national and even regional character. The"textbook" RPI groups can usually be identified by a pervasive sense of romantic melancholy and earthy flair, sometimes enhanced by baroqueelements, sometimes by more ethnic ones. Other distinctive features include overt opera and operetta influences, wild and uncontrolled storytelling,and as a general rule, bold and highly emotional vocals. There is extroverted, operatic gallantry and panache or mellow balladry; exciting use of allsorts of keyboards, with sounds heard nowhere else but in this particular scene; exotic instruments such as aggeggi, ottavino, mandoloncello,clavicembalo- names that tickle the imagination and leave their distinct mark on the music. There is a uniquely magical marriage of the traditional to themodern, of the warm to the wild. The combination of flute, piano and violin is often encountered, and the interplay between the first two instruments inparticular supplies the subgenre with a fair share of its identity and flavour.

Though the symphonic element is indeed the most common in RPI, the genre would be better characterized as eclectic. Jazz-fusion, folk, hard rockriffing à la Jethro Tull, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, intense drama a la Van der Graaf Generator (whose albums were revered in Italy), singer-songwriter, proto-metal, blues, avant tendencies, pop, psych, dark/occult, electronic-the list goes on. Even more amazing, these differences in style canoften be found to varying degrees on one album, and still feel natural in the distinct stylistic framework mentioned above.

No overview of RPI would be complete without mentioning the use of the Italian language, by many considered one of the most musical languages inthe world. It could be safely stated that the use of Italian is inherent to the soul of RPI, a critical component to the full appreciation of the subgenre. Infact, even if some key RPI albums were translated into English in an attempt to gain international recognition, most of them fail to impress. They feel asif one of the basic ingredients of what makes RPI such a successful concoction is missing. While most serious RPI fans consider Italian vocals essentialto their listening experience, it is fair to say that some believe English lyrics are not so detrimental-even if in most cases the odd phrasing, incorrectemphasis, and heavy Italian accent of the singers detract significantly from an authentic overall effect. While some prog fans can find the gregariousItalian vocal style challenging at first, newbies are encouraged to simply stick with it for a while. With only a modest effort any RPI newbie will soon findthey cannot imagine this music without traditional Italian vocals-they truly are the icing on the cake.

One common misconception that must be addressed is the belief that any prog band from Italy is an RPI band. There are bands from Italy moreappropriate for other genres. As an example, a pure and obvious post-rock band who just happen to be from Rome are going to be in the post-rocksub, not RPI. A pure jazz-fusion band with no RPI characteristics to their sound could be easily placed in the Jazz/Fusion subgenre. The RPI team willwork hard to evaluate bands that fit the characteristics and the feel of the subgenre, and those whose primary sound is more suited for another sub arerecommended to them.

"Progressive is basically a blending of three elements: the song, the improvisation inspired by jazz and the composition in classical style. Thiscocktail is interpreted in different ways in every country: in England, for instance, Celtic, rock and blues influences prevail. In Italy we have to copewith our classical tradition: the melodramma, Respighi, Puccini, Mascagni but also all the contemporary classical composers. It's in this legacy, inmy opinion, that the specificity of the Italian Progressive Rock is concealed." -Franco Mussida, PFM

5. RPI in the new centuryAs recently as the 90s and early 2000s RPI again proved its longevity to the prog community. Scores of the classic albums were re-pressed in Japan,then specialized independent labels such as BTF, Mellow and Black Widow (the latter responsible for rescuing the likes of Jacula and Antonius Rexfrom oblivion) started to re-issue many of the classic albums. As a consequence RPI has not only reached a new generation of fans, but the increased


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interest and appreciation have led to new material being released. Artists whose recordings have never been in circulation, bands that are as new toour ears as they are to many of those who were there when it happened, now have a new-found audience creating an ironic worm-hole effect: brandnew music straight from prog's golden years.

With the revival clearly under way the 90s produced some stellar Italian albums and the beginning of CD reissue fever. In the 2000s the trend hascontinued to a much more successful degree. RPI is back and fan interest has exploded for both the classic period and the new bands of today like IlBacio Della Medusa, Pandora, Lagartija, Conqueror, Il Ruscello, Senza Nome, Coral Caves, J'Accuse, Ubi Maior, and the projects of Fabio Zuffanti toname just a few. Italian progressive rock today covers a wide range of styles and influences, but many of the bands ground a portion of their sound inthe RPI tradition. Moreover, this first decade of the 21st century has seen a new round of publications (both in print and in electronic format) coveringvarious aspects of Italian prog, as well as the creation of a number of excellent websites dedicated to the subgenre, which are extremely influential asregards the promotion of new bands and artists.

The commercial success of RPI has always been modest compared to the big bands from other countries. However, the quality of the music past andpresent, from its unique compositions to fiercely independent spirit, has earned the RPI subgenre some of prog's most loyal followers.

By:Raffaella BerryMichael BerryRyan OlsenJim RussellLinus WikströmTodd Dudley

For the Mick.29 July 2009

Current RPI TeamToddNightfly (Paul)SeventhSojourn (Chris)Aussie-Byrd-Brother (Michael)

Additional information:Italian Prog - A dedicated RPI sitehttp://www.italianprog.com

Italian Prog Map - A superb blog by RPI writer Andrea Parentinhttp://italianprogmap.blogspot.com/

Andrea Parentin's history of RPI (essential reading)http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=33377&PID=2345095#2345095


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Andrea Parentin's contemporary Italian prog (newer bands)http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=62150&FID=58

Movimenti Proghttp://www.movimentiprog.net

Centro Studi per il Progressive Italianohttp://www.centrostudiprogitaliano.it

Mats Italian Prog Sitehttp://www.italianprogrock.com/index.php

John's Classic RPI blog - Another good blog on the "classic" erahttp://classikrock.blogspot.com/

Arlequins - A prog rock webzine with much RPI contenthttp://www.arlequins.it/gb/index.asp

Where to buy Italian progSyn-phonic (USA) - http://www.synphonic.8m.com/index.htmDoug Larson (USA) - http://www.hicom.net/~dlarson/Kinesis (USA) - http://www.kinesiscd.com/index.htmlWayside (USA) - http://www.waysidemusic.com/Mellow Records (Italy) - http://www.mellowrecords.comBTF (Italy) - http://www.btf.itBlack Widow Records (Italy) - http://www.blackwidow.itCamelot Music Store (Italy) - http://www.semanticweb.it/camelotstore/

All Rock Progressivo Italiano artists list

Symphonic is without doubt the sub-genre that includes the most bands in Progressive Rock because for many people it's almost synonymous classicProg, something easy to understand being that most of the classic and/or pioneer bands released music that could be included in this sub-genre,except JETHRO TULL and PINK FLOYD (who still blended some symphonic elements), even KING CRIMSON who very soon expanded their horizonsto more experimental music, made their debut with a Symphonic album, "In the Court of the Crimson King" which is a cornerstone in the development ofthe genre.

The main characteristics of Symphonic are the ones that defined all Progressive Rock: (There's nothing 100% new under the sun) which among othersare:

Mixture of elements from different genres.


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Complex time signatures.Lush keyboards.Explorative and intelligent lyrics, in some cases close to fantasy literature, Sci Fi and even political issues.Non commercial approachLonger format of songs

In this specific case the main characteristic is the influence of Classical music (understood as Orchestral works created from the late Gothic to ModernClassical) using normally more complex structure than other related sub-genres like Neo Progressive (That's why sometimes the borderline that dividesSymphonic from Neo is so unclear being that is based mostly in a degree of complexity rather than in an evident structural difference)..It is easy to findlong keyboard solos reminiscent of Johan Sebastian Bach or melodic works that could have been written by Handel.

As in any other genre, different Symphonic bands had different approaches to Classical music, for example YES and GENESIS are mainly influencedby the Baroque and Classical periods, while EMERSON LAKE & PALMER has a predilection for post Romantic and modern authors like Mussorgsky,Rimsky Korsakov, Bartok or Ginastera, being that their sound is less melodic and more aggressive.

The peak of the genre starts in 1969 and lasts until the mid/late 70's (more precisely until the release of A Trick of the Tail), when the genre begins to blend more mainstream influences that took to the birth of Neo Progressive (a new approach for a new decade).

It is important to remember that even though the creative peak of Symphonic Progressive ended before the 80's, we can find a second birth in the 90'scoming from the Scandinavian countries (specially Sweden with ANGLAGARD or PAR LINDH PROJECT) and even bands that still in the 21st Centuryrecreate music from this period like SPOCK'S BEARD or ECHOLYN.

Before ending this short description I feel necessary to say (In order to be strictly accurate) that the term Symphonic is not 100% exact,because these bands very rarely played symphonies and was probably used because the music that influenced the genre was performed bySymphony Orchestras, but it is so widely accepted by the Progressive Rock community that would be absurd and futile for anybody to attempt achange after so much time.

Iván Melgar Morey, Peru 2006

Symphonic Team


Ivan_Melgar_M (Iván Melgar MoreScott Tuffnell (AtomicCrimsonRush)Fritz (SouthSideoftheSky)

All Symphonic Prog artists list


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This category lists technical Progressive Metal bands that have roots in Extreme Metal or that are strongly influenced by it. The style developed by theend of the 80s in the Thrash Metal scene when a number of bands stretched the boundaries of their sound by including elements from ProgressiveRock. Death Metal followed a similar path in the 90s and by the 2000s, also Black Metal and Metalcore saw an increasing amount of bands taking inProg influences.

Certain bands like EPHEL DUATH and UNEXPECT developed a style that largely abandoned their extreme metal heritage in favour of a highly eclecticjazz-influenced Avant Metal style. These bands are listed under Experimental Metal.

Progressive Thrash MetalBy the end of the 80s Thrash Metal had diversified its sound significantly to an extent where the originally very direct and uncompromisingly aggressivestyle had become more sophisticated, boasting challenging technical skills and ambitious song structures frequently surpassing the 6 minute mark. Thebest known examples are METALLICA and MEGADETH.

The bands listed in this section went one step further and embraced notable influences from Progressive Rock, replacing much of the typical ThrashMetal riffs and rhythms with a more progressive and melodic riffing style, influenced by KING CRIMSON and RUSH. The most well-known of theseearly bands was VOIVOD, who also brought the early psychedelic sound of PINK FLOYD into their unique mold. Important pioneering albums werereleased by WATCHTOWER, CORONER, MEKONG DELTA, as well as the debut album of SIEGES SEVEN.More recent examples of Progressive Thrash are SPIRAL ARCHITECT and VEKTOR

Progressive Death MetalDeath Metal further built on the sound of the most extreme bands of the Thrash scene. Next to the brutal sound, blast beat drumming, complex songstructures and multiple tempo changes, the most notorious feature of the style is probably the growled vocals. Death Metal is generally highly technical,making the dividing line between Technical Death Metal and Progressive Death Metal sometimes rather faint.

The bands considered for Prog Archives are those that show significant influences from Progressive Rock and/or Fusion. One of the landmarks in thestyle is "Elements" from ATHEIST, who mixed their hyper-technical Speed Metal with fusion. Other early albums include "Focus" from CYNIC and"Spheres" from PESTILENCE, where progressive riffing, polymetrics, fusion influences and atmospheric keyboards complemented their brutal DeathMetal. Also DEATH, the popular founder of Death Metal, incorporated fusion and progressive elements on their later albums.

A different flavour of Progressive Death Metal came from the European continent, when half-way into the 90s leading death and doom-death bandsstarted expanding their basic metal sound. The most significant album relevant to this section is "Crimson" from EDGE OF SANITY. In typicalScandinavian fashion, their epic approach wasn't fusion oriented but less technical and more melodic, introducing the now typical alteration betweenbrutal Death sections and more melodic breaks with clean vocals; an approach perfected in the next decade by OPETH.

Progressive Black MetalUnlike Thrash and Death metal, Black Metal is not a technical genre. Originally it was even purposely non-technical and low-fi. By the end of the 90sthe genre had developed into various sub-styles, of which some incorporated elements from progressive music.The bands listed in this section are Black Metal bands that traded the minimalism of Black Metal for a more progressive, technical or experimentalapproach. This distinguishes them from the Black Metal bands that fleshed out their sound with either post-rock and/or shoegaze influences. Those arelisted under Experimental/Post Metal.


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One of the earliest and best known example of this style is ENSLAVED, who maintained the harsh atmosphere and aggression of classic Black Metalbut extended this with a more textured psychedelic sound, chromatic riffing and odd time-signatures, citing influences from PINK FLOYD, VOIVOD andKING CRIMSON. Also IHSAHN, front-man of EMPEROR, should be mentioned here.

Most artists in this section are Symphonic Black Metal-oriented bands with progressive and experimental influences, but without fully crossing over toeither Prog or Avant Metal as they remain oppressively dark, harsh, often dissonant and inaccessible. Their strong ties to Black Metal is why they arefeatured under Tech/Extreme Prog Metal and not in Avant Prog Metal. Examples are DEATHSPELL OMEGA, MOONSORROW, NEGURA BUNGETand the slightly more accessible theatrical Symphonic Black Metal of ARCTURUS.

Modern PhaseIn the 2000s trends became more diffuse, introducing bands that had some of their stylistic features in common with the extreme metal genres withoutfully belonging in any of them. Some of them continued the strong fusion element and hyper-technical approach from ATHEIST and CYNIC.Instrumental acts such a as EXIVIOUS, CANVAS SOLARIS and BLOTTED SCIENCE received lots of critical acclaim from progressive metal fans.

A new trend was set by MESHUGGAH, one of the most defining bands of this era. At the end of the 90s their eclectic mix of Death, Thrash, Avant,Fusion and Prog laid down the groundrules of Extreme Metal for the next decade. Another well known band to take a similar eclectic approach toExtreme Metal was GOJIRA.In the second half of the 2000's, many young bands copied MESHUGGAH's guitar tone and rhythmical riffing style, giving rise to the so-called 'djent'movement. Many of these bands belong in Tech/Extreme, such as ANIMALS AS LEADERS, CHIMP SPANNER etc.

Progressive MetalcoreThe second half of the 2000s also saw the rise of a new generation of Progressive Tech/Extreme acts with roots that lay in Metalcore, Mathcore andTechnical Sludge, rather then the 'classic' Extreme Metal genres. Their music is inherently technical and complex and has quite a number of formalfeatures in common with Progressive Metal such as odd time signatures and non-standard song formats.Prog Archives only lists these bands that go beyond the default expectations of the genre and bring in distinct non-extreme Prog influences. Some ofthe most eye-catching bands in this area are BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, PROTEST THE HERO, BURST, DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN andMASTODON.

--- Definition by Karl and the Progressive Metal Team, January 2012 ---


All Tech/Extreme Prog Metal artists list


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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 / UnVoyage En Progressif Volume 1 to 8 / Kalevala - A Finnish Progressive Rock Epic.

All Various Genres artists list

Zeuhl is an adjective in Kobaïan, the language written by Christian Vander, drummer and founder of the French band Magma.

Pronunciation: zEU(h)l, while the EU are like a French E with a slight U, and the (h) is a semi-silent letter which is an integrated part of the EU, totalingin a "syllable and a half".

The word means celestial, although many times it is misunderstood as meaning "celestial music", since the members of Magma describe the genre oftheir music as Zeuhl. Zeuhl Wortz, though, means Music of the universal might.

The genre is a mixture of musical genres like Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Modernism and Fusion. Common elements: oppressive or discipline-conveying feel, marching themes, throbbing bass, an ethereal piano or Rhodes piano, and brass instruments.

Current team members:octopus-4 (Luca)HolyMoly (Steve)DamoXt7942 (Keishiro)A Person (Matt)SaltyJon (Jon)

All Zeuhl artists list


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