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Old 01-03-2015, 02:49 PM   #1 (permalink)
Trollheart
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Default I know what I like: Trollheart's History of Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal


Part of


Although most people here would label me a proghead, and they'd be right, the first part of the title above is very appropriate to me: I do know what I like, and I often tend not to venture too far past that. There are a lot of prog rock bands I have never heard, heard of, or refuse to try. I've never heard a Camel album, nothing from Caravan, I know virtually nothing about the Canterbury Scene, have an abiding hatred for ELP and am not crazy about early Yes, though I've heard little. I doubt I've ever heard any Krautrock and King Crimson remain a mystery to me.

These are not good things to admit when you're a proghead, and so I've decided to try to do something about it. Some time back, Big Ears started writing a history of progressive rock, but he didn't get too far and now he's left, so that's not going to go anywhere. So latching onto that idea, and sort of bouncing off Unknown Soldier's format a little, the plan here is for me to go chronologically through the development of progressive rock, from its origins (though not too far back: I know some people talk about the Beatles having progressive albums, and Miles Davis, and others; these I won't be touching on, only those who have become or emerged as true progressive rock bands) through its heyday in the seventies to its death and then rebirth in the eighties, bringing in the evolution of progressive metal, and on to the present day, where it continues to enjoy a resurgence and constantly changes and evolves as its name implies.

Although I'm fifty-two this year (oh no!) I only got into what I would class as “my own music” , ie stopped just listening to what was on the radio or the TV, when I was about 15, so that would be 1978, and once I found artistes I liked I tended to stick with them, buying all their albums and occasionally branching out a little, but I was not one who wanted to explore a genre. I found what I liked and I was happy with that. As a result, I could not in any way be said to have a comprehensive knowledge of progressive rock, certainly not a personal one, so unlike my friend Unknown Soldier I will have to rely on the recollections of others in order to trace the history of this oft-maligned and misunderstood subgenre of rock. To help me, I will be using mostly two books I have purchased recently, shown below. Why those? Well, to be perfectly honest, I bought my sister a Kindle for Christmas, and then thought of getting one myself I was so impressed with it. But on discovering I could download an app for my phone which would allow me to read Kindle books, a lot of expense was spared and I am now able to read e-books. So rather than wait for books to arrive in the post, I can now just download them and read them right away. Certainly saves time, and often money.

Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock since the 1960s by Martin Halliwell and Paul Hegarty


Mean Deviation: Four decades of Progressive Metal Jeff Wagner, with a foreword by Steven Wilson

The two shown above, and one other, shown below, are the only real authoritative sources I could find on progressive rock, and so I've decided to let them guide my feet on the steps of this journey I'm undertaking. I may look into some online sources too, but only for reference: I do not in any way want to plagiarise anyone's work or rob from their writings, and the books I mention are there for my own information and to allow me fill in the details I don't have or am not aware of. Wiki will of course play its part, as it always does. Generally the way I'm going to do it is this:

Going, as I said, chronologically (what other way would I go, after all?) I'll be looking at the beginnings of the subgenre, noting any important albums along the way and mini-reviewing them. Again, as this is a pretty big undertaking (and I already have “1001 albums” under way, to say nothing of my other journals) I won't be doing in-depth reviews, but may do another “Bitesize” format or something similar. Any albums I'm aware of, have heard or know will be noted and spoken about, and here I will bring to bear any personal knowledge or insights or memories that are appropriate. I will try to do it, unlike Unknown Soldier, as a kind of book, labelling chapters in important eras, as well as year-by-year. If I can.

Citizens of Hope and Glory: The Story of Progressive Rock Stephen Lambe
Why is this another journal, now my tenth? It's another case of my looking at doing this, thinking of doing it in my main journal and realising it's far too wide-ranging and time-consuming for me to allow it the odd entry in the Playlist; it would either take it over or it would take the rest of my life to get it done. And so I've freed myself from those self-imposed bonds by tackling this huge venture in a totally new journal. I invite any progheads, or anyone interested or who has stories, information, corrections or advice to assist me: this is certainly one of the biggest undertakings I have ever attempted, so any help is certainly appreciated. Do remember though, if you intend to contribute, to keep strictly within the guidelines for chronology. In other words, don't start posting about an album released in 1972 when we're only in 1968, and so on. Which is not to say that we can't discuss same, but I'd like to try to keep, as US does, the conversation pertinent to the year or era being covered at the time.

Does this mean there'll be less prog rock covered in my main journal? Not really; I love prog rock and metal and will continue to feature it as I feel is appropriate in the Playlist, Bitesize and other journals, but here I'll be doing my best to give an overall picture of the genre as it has developed over the decades, as well as educating myself along the way, and listening to and experiencing bands I surely should have heard by now. If an album or artiste I feature here does not tally with your view of prog rock, bear in mind that I'm being guided by these authors, and while I won't slavishly follow their recommendations and advice, they obviously know more about the subject than me and I will have to mostly defer to their expertise. However, if you feel there's an artiste I'm not covering, or I'm covering someone I shouldn't be in this context, feel free to let me know.

It'll probably take a little while before this gets properly underway, but I hope to be able to start posting by next week at the latest. Any comments before that are certainly welcome. If you're someone who knows nothing or little about prog, and wants to get into it, or understand it better, now is the time to hop on board and join me for what I hope will be an entertaining and enjoyable journey.
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Last edited by Trollheart; 03-23-2021 at 03:47 PM.
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