What is Prog 2 - Writers speak
It’s unfair to pick on AllMusic as source of definition. It’s a review site, so works with the words of it’s audience and the commonplaces of commerce. But as base material, let’s read. Here’s Allmusic having a shot at a description of Prog‐Rock (you need to root round, the article is not in search engines). Starts like this,
Progressive rock and art rock are two almost interchangeable terms describing a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility.
Crikey. Some people will say that one feature of Prog is that it’s a music of high density composition and virtuoso playing. This sentence‐as‐introduction is cranking on an imitation. But let’s play fair. The writer gathers the opinion of others. So look at what they say, check if it represents the opinion of others. Then build the definition it represents.
First up is a statement that,
Progressive rock and art rock are two almost interchangeable terms…
I don’t buy this. Ask any music audience and they will tell you there is a difference. Exhibit: some known Art rock, of two different inclinations and outcomes—Brian Eno’s ambient art‐installation soundscaping, and work by the band Henry Cow. Chances are these would not be muddled by audience or musicians with known Prog Rock like Yes—I’m prepared to bet Dagmar Krause fans don’t roll Tales from Topographic Oceans, and even if there were people who follow both musics, they’d be clear which is which. Within a handful of sentences, the article moves to qualify itself,
Art rock is more likely to have experimental or avant‐garde influences, placing novel sonic texture above prog‐rock’s symphonic ambitions.
So this muddle is in the head of the writer. Likely someone, either the writer or someone they touch on, has tried to separate the two and not got anywhere. I’m gonna ignore this problem—noted to be disposed of.
Then there’s a statement that Prog Rock is,
…a mostly British attempt…
A statement made also in the Wikipedia article, similarly blank, this deserves a dig. With all the awkward statements Pop music critics like to make about the music of Black (mostly American) cultures and then freight with politics, a mention of ‘British’ implies cultural background—mostly that Prog Rock is White, and therefore of dubious politics, and so an adverse comment on the music.
The bottom of this can be handled fairly easily as cultural diaspora—the world is not as connected as people like to think. If Prog Rock started in Britain, despite the comments in the articles, it spread. The Wikipedia article mentions the erratic and eccentric response of America, for example the band Kansas, and it seems that near‐any country in the world with an inclination to making band‐music has a Prog‐like band someplace—Italy, Japan, Russia, and I’ll bet you can find something similar in Argentina, South Africa, or Australia. We don’t want or need a national factor in a definition that is about a music that crosses the world. Historical origin is worth noting as history. Again, noted to be trashed.
The opening sentence from the Allmusic article ends by saying Prog‐Rock is an,
…attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility
This is implausible… no, incredible. I never met a musician who was ‘concerned with artistic legitimacy’. I never read an interview with one, either. But I can tell you what the guys from Gentle Giant said— they said they were tired of playing the twelve bars, and as Simon Dupree and the Big Sound they’d had a hit single, so wanted to move on to what they could do and express. They were able and wanted to try, a remark that you can find dropped by many musicians connected with Prog‐Rock.
Another example, me and my friend traded an old interview with Robert Fripp, catalyst of the band referenced above, King Crimson. Mr. Fripp used to practice playing the guitar piece Recuerdos de la Alhambra using a pick. And here he is, his comment on his first gig,
They (a restaurant band) were looking for a singing organist. Since I was a guitarist who didn’t sing, I went along for the job.
I don’t hear a “concern with artistic legitimacy.” I hear a guy who wants to play and works at it. But again, the Allmusic writer is getting at something. This time, I suggest it’s an idea that because the music uses Western Art instrumental technique, literary references and so forth, in his mind this is a search for legitimacy. In his head, I’d say, not for musicians and audiences. To them it’s something that’s part of their lives which they enjoy in their music. Does the writer feel he needs to find legitimacy for his listening to Pop music? You can hear that in the awkward‐but‐wonderful comments about The Beatles in their mid‐sixties ‘Rubber Soul’ phase—Leonard Bernstein indeed.