Progressive rock (shortened as prog; sometimes called art rock, classical rock or symphonic rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States throughout the mid- to late 1960s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its "progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing. Prog is based on fusions of styles, approaches and genres, involving a continuous move between formalism and eclecticism. Due to its historical reception, prog's scope is sometimes limited to a stereotype of long solos, long albums, fantasy lyrics, grandiose stage sets and costumes, and an obsessive dedication to technical skill. While the genre is often cited for its merging of high culture and low culture, few artists incorporated literal classical themes in their work to any great degree, and only a handful of groups purposely emulated or referenced classical music. The genre coincided with the mid-1960s economic boom that allowed record labels to allocate more creative control to their artists, as well as the new journalistic division between "pop" and "rock" that lent generic significance to both terms. Prog saw a high level of popularity in the early-to-mid-1970s, but faded soon after. Conventional wisdom holds that the rise of punk rock caused this, but several more factors contributed to the decline. Music critics, who often labelled the concepts as "pretentious" and the sounds as "pompous" and "overblown", tended to be hostile towards the genre or to completely ignore it. After the late 1970s, progressive rock fragmented in numerous forms. Some bands achieved commercial success well into the 1980s (albeit with changed lineups and more compact song structures) or crossed into symphonic pop, arena rock, or new wave. Early groups who exhibited progressive features are retroactively described as "proto-prog". The Canterbury scene, originating in the late 1960s, denotes a subset of prog bands who emphasised the use of wind instruments, complex chord changes and long improvisations. Rock in Opposition, from the late 1970s, was more avant-garde, and when combined with the Canterbury style, created avant-prog. In the 1980s, a new subgenre, neo-progressive rock, enjoyed some commercial success, although it was also accused of being derivative and lacking in innovation. Post-progressive draws upon newer developments in popular music and the avant-garde since the mid 1970s. Wikipedia

Chronology 2 / 5

Released Title Classification Artist Score Ratings
1971 Nursery Cryme excellent Genesis 3.970 13556
1971 Meddle excellent Pink Floyd 4.178 38648
1971 Aqualung excellent Jethro Tull 4.246 20918
1972 ...Where the Groupies Killed the Blues nice Lucifer's Friend 3.497 471
1972 Waterloo Lily very good Caravan 3.796 1922
1972 Three Friends excellent Gentle Giant 4.020 4700
1972 Octopus excellent Gentle Giant 4.040 9638
1972 Prologue excellent Renaissance 3.862 1684
1972 Trilogy excellent Emerson, Lake & Palmer 3.848 6751
1972 Focus 3 excellent Focus 4.007 2586
1972 Close to the Edge excellent Yes 4.502 36580
1972 Foxtrot excellent Genesis 4.288 18454
1972 Thick as a Brick excellent Jethro Tull 4.306 19292
1973 Larks' Tongues in Aspic excellent King Crimson 4.298 26220
1973 Camel very good Camel 3.827 5140
1973 For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night excellent Caravan 4.013 2838
1973 In a Glass House excellent Gentle Giant 3.942 4930
1973 Nice & Greasy good Atomic Rooster 3.201 528
1973 Brain Salad Surgery excellent Emerson, Lake & Palmer 3.954 9148
1973 Tales From Topographic Oceans very good Yes 3.612 9362
1973 Selling England by the Pound excellent Genesis 4.406 25569
1973 The Dark Side of the Moon excellent Pink Floyd 4.520 82850
1973 A Passion Play very good Jethro Tull 3.642 5539
1974 Starless and Bible Black excellent King Crimson 4.018 14507
1974 Red excellent King Crimson 4.350 40214

2 / 5



Progressive Rock