What is Prog 6 - An Answer
I think something can be done—mostly. But we need two definitions of Prog—Prog Type 1 and Prog Type 2. I don’t see a way to cover the scene otherwise. Which means the word ‘prog’ is broken. The musics may need different names, like “Ersatz Rock” and “Dense Rock”? But I think that might muddle. I’m sticking to Prog 1 and Prog 2.
Prog Type 1
Any music that uses musical instruments (and even human voices) to reference and challenge styles beyond Pop staples or pure music moves
This gets us a surprisingly long way, particularly with the original rock seam. To note early examples, Davey Graham’s ‘Anji’, The Beatles recorded ‘Michelle’ as French‐Pop travesty, The Nice recorded a few Western‐Art variations, Family recorded a track ‘Laugh and Sing’ as rock‐based, Jazz‐twisted Barbershop. This is distinct from complex music like Bacharach and David songwriting or beat music and inventions like ? and the Mysterians, or even the early heavy of High Tide—these muusics are not on stage to evoke a Debussy etude. It springs from The Beatles (mostly) take that any musical style could be mashed into a rock format, then for better or worse pushed further. So there’s a line where music is not Prog Type 1.
For Prog Type 1 it is important how a music evokes another music‐genre. This must be for purpose of reference, not only technique or sound. In other words, it must at least become some kind of travesty or parody, if not a new form of the original. It’s the struggle between the two, conscious evocation with the knowledge this is not the same form. I’d say this is clearly there for example with the likes of early King Crimson. Whereas, of Folk‐evokers, it rules out singer‐songwriters such as Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, Roy Harper and so forth—all of who are doing their thing within a light framework (Prog Rock discussion often, despite frequent appearances, flat out ignores Folk). Whereas, of the same Folk‐evoker season, it does include ‘Anji’, season one and two of Fairport Convention and some Strawbs, which seems about right.
This leads to music that evoked several other musics such as the non‐Prog band but surely their Prog album Beggars Banquet by the Rolling Stones (‘Factory Girl’), later Small Faces (often raised as Psychedelic but also Prog), Procul Harum’s Art progressions with Surreal references, the Folk‐Jazz mash of second‐season Jethro Tull and other mashes such as Gong. Which is where we are into music that audiences avow is Prog.
The Art Music Qualification
Tightening up,
Any music that uses musical instruments (and even human voices) to reference Western Art Music
This is gonna score with King Crimson—claimed as Western‐Art influenced by the likes of Bela Bartok—or Procul Harum—Western Art progression with styles like Baroque organ and Hendrix guitar. If you wanted to extend to Pop, then Phil Spector and Whitfield‐Strong productions and so forth also.
This qualification moves Prog Type 1 towards the ‘symphonic rock’ label of some writers. It may be catchy but I dislike the label—it implies symphonic construction. Next to no Rock or Pop long tracks are constructed symphonically—most are made from a flow of connected melody, of repeated or developed material organised by melodic fragments or quirks—‘Thick as a Brick’ by Jethro Tull or ‘Suppers Ready’ by Genesis. Even more heavily‐composed work like the saga by Magma is constructed more like opera, or in some cases Jazz. Experiments aside and as far as I know, the only music that uses symphonic or similar Western‐Art music construction is by Gryphon. The Western‐Art influences tend to be in melodic approach, or imitation of some kinds of performance. But the description given allows for smaller musical interest, such as being interested in chord progressions or instrumental technique. It also describes a neat and readily locatable type of Rock music. So much so, that Western‐Art influenced (if you must, ‘symphonic’) Rock and Pop is recognised as a genre by writers.
However, there is a downside. Bands like The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Colosseum majored on Jazz, not Western‐Art Rock. Jazz guys are keen to call themselves ‘fusion’, but both of these two rocked, so qualify as Prog. Fits audience expectation for many. But makes the situation messy. Because why not other musics? The Folk‐evocation mentioned above is especially important. Many of the earlier bands called Prog worked with Folk‐Rock fusion. To rule out Folk is to rule out a huge seam of fan gotos. Other definitions round Prog try to make a feature of the possibilities here—‘brutal prog’ (hey, where’s Country Prog?) and so forth. But the only issue to me is whether Western‐Art‐Music should be isolated, or all music references are acceptable.
Ask me, the problem is not with the definition—include other than Western Art music, it falls naturally as Type 1 Prog. But there’s a narrative round Folk that trades in ‘authenticity’, and that audience is not ready to take the hit that the best of this is Art. Up to you, I say—limit to Western Art Music and you’re clear‐but‐narrow, accept The Mahavishnu Orchestra as prog and then you gooda accept those debased Folk musics are Prog Type 1 also—for better or worse.
Prog Type 2
I first caught this when I heard a track by the band Wire. Wire are usually called Punk, though of a Ramones concept. They stripped, but not like the Ramones—down to dual guitars with keyboard dots and drones. But, for all the Art lyrics, there is Punk in them. They could be impatient. Here’s their bass player, Graham Lewis,
We really did have a brutal policy towards the material where if two people got tired of something, thought ‘Well, y’know, that’s just not as exciting as it used to be,’ well, that was it.
On their first album, only three tracks of twenty‐one last longer than three minutes. However, the second album contains a shocker. Side two starts with a track, ‘Mercy’. ‘Mercy’ is 5:46 long, in multiple sections of music, with the most obscure of art lyrics.
Perhaps because of this some say Wire display a ‘prog’ influence—personally, not that I can interview the band, I make this as unlikely. Aside from an Art concept, what of Yes, or any well‐known Prog music, is there in Wire—think they checked out Genesis before recording ‘Mercy’? Likely no—likely they were not against the idea of long work, got a stream of musical ideas into their heads then spewed.
So what is it that causes ‘Mercy’ to seem somewhat ‘prog’? How about this?
Prog (Type 2) is any Pop music that reaches at lengths of musical development through sections, as opposed to verse‐chorus
Some time later, far away, there was another group called the Minutemen. Name implies they didn’t take long to finish a song. This may go reach back to Wire, I think I saw a reliable reference someplace, but was different inside—the Minutemen didn’t strip as Art, but because if they had nothing to say, they wouldn’t play. But then, after a bunch of EP and two LPS, they released an EP with their own shocker—‘Little Man with a Gun in his Hand’ clocked in at 3:12, a length they barely surpassed again, and came in five interlocking sections with a double section bridge round lyrics spoken and shouted. Nobody would accuse the Minutemen of being Prog—they were allied with Hardcore Punk, though they may’ve ’fessed up themselves—but, without musical connection, ‘Mercy’ and ‘Little Man with a Gun in his Hand’ are similar in build. Homemade long forms, born from heat, compact in delivery. Hence Type 2 Prog.
If you admit Prog Type 2, it requires compositional development. It may be that this should be in a compact form—I’m not going to require. But it will not pass as exotic instumentation, harmony, stuff like that—development… not a simple verse‐chorus. So dipping out to atmospherics doesn’t count. This has been a notable feature since the 1980’s, when the ability to use the guitar to shape or trigger a synth became possible. Think most audience would agree that if there are no notes, it’s not Prog.
This definition will pick up the ‘prog‐influenced’ tracks mentioned above, Pink Floyd, and musics from River‐like groups that show structure like Soft Machine (before the Jazz) and Can. But, getting down to it, this will drop music pulled in by default like most hard rock, late Genesis, Marillion, The Mars Volta and more. Then again, working those other lines it will pick up heavy work like Black Sabbath, St. Vitus and Kyuss, Ash Ra Tempel and synth like some Tangerine Dream… but these have a claim to be here, and are sometimes referenced by fans and writers.
Blurred assertion
Other definitions of Prog touch on these two ideas. A requirement for ‘concept albums’, which I’d never make, is in places the same as ‘extended composition’. A forum post that attempts to define prog rock puts together two similar terms and seems to require them both. But I prefer the terms split. It allows more music than Folk/Western‐Art crossover, makes sense of the idea that long‐form musics may be ‘influenced’ when unlikely, and makes for wider and deeper listening about what makes a track Prog—rightly, I’d say.