More Prog Rock Babble

[William Duffy]

John Majka wrote:
>
> ><< I have a little trouble with the terminology used to describe groups such
> > as Rush and Yes.  To my mind, the word 'progressive' implies just that,
> > progression.  So, I would say that bands like Henry Cow and Can (at least
> > in their earlier days) were progressive.  Bands like Rush, Yes and Genesis
> > I would hesitate to describe, not wanting to cause upset to their huge
> > armies of fans, but to these ears they have not done much progressing
> > since the early 70's!!!  Regression, well, that's another matter
> > altogether. >>
> >
>
> Regarding music... the term "progressive" is certainly troublesome.  Of
> course bands like Yes, Genesis, Nektar etc. were labeled as progressive rock
> because their music was seen as something intended to break musical
> boundaries and to progress beyond the ken of typical musical experiences.
> Of course before long what was a "new" sound became an antique sound.
>
I agree with this line of thinking. As an example, "In the Court of the Crimson King" is
regarded (by some) as progressive rock. When KC (that's King Crimson, not the Sunshine
Band) released their 2nd album, it was very similar musically to their 1st. Thus, it was
no longer progressive.

>Prog rock was
> initially supposed to be about mutating and evolving to stay fresh and
> original (something a lot of people who use the word seem to ignore).
>
I think a lot of the other artists suffered the same problem. They would record an
historically significant LP, and they would then have to recreate that album to keep the
listeners interested in their sound.
If they were to make a drastic shift in sound, people may not buy their next album.
In some ways there are artists who have made LP's that were so progressive, that what
they would do later would be rather ordinary, possibly because they used up so many
creative juices on that 1st LP.
A perfect example of this is White Noise. White Noise is really a solo project by
David Vorhaus (with help from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop). Their 1st LP, from 1969,
"An Electric Storm in Hell", is a must buy. However, subsequent recordings are not
unlike the works of Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre, etc..

William