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Adam Ironside [106045743]

Progressive Rock: Issues and Concepts

[18th May 2012]

Major Specialist Study Dissertation

[MUSS3013]

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of the BA Music Degree, Newcastle University

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Contents

1. History and Context

1. Introduction p3.

2. History, Culture, Origins and Evolutions p6.

3. Power Metal and Other Evolutions of Progressive Rock p16.

2. Issues and Concepts

1. The Search for Authenticity and the Art Music Influence p20.

2. Lyrics, Themes and the Concept Album p25.

3. Issues of Virtuosity p29.

3. Analysis and Conclusions

1. X Japan Art of Life p33.

2. George Bellas Step Into the Future p36.

3. Conclusion p41.

1. Appendix p44.

2. Bibliography p46.

3. Discography p48.

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Progressive Rock: Issues and Concepts

Introduction

To attempt to define progressive music, and everything it embodies (its various genres,

extensions and contradictions) in any number of words, would be an impossible task. One

instead must think of it as it was intended a deviation from (or rebellion against) the

repetitive, radio-friendly, simple, blues-based pop and rock and roll music that dominated

the airwaves throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. Superficially, progressive music has a

distinctive sound with emphasis on technical complexity or virtuosity (virtuosity over not

just the chosen musical instruments, but also over composition, rhythm, meter, harmony,

melody, tempo, music). It can be multi-layered, written in an extended or unorthodox form,

conceptual, atmospheric, eccentric, absurd, acoustic or electric. Progressive music can have

all of these characteristics or indeed none of them; the first great contradiction of

progressive music.

Part of its ambiguity stems from the fact there are very few hard and fast rules to what

makes a band or musician progressive. The opening paragraph, whilst true, is as misleading

as any other definition of progressive rock as there are always exceptions. Many academics,

critics, musicians and fans of progressive music have tried to define the sound of the music

they love but none of these descriptions and definitions can be taken as gospel, again,

there are always exceptions and contradictions. Progressive rock is rather less than a genre

and a lot more than one, too. It is less than most popular music genres because its defining

feature is not a set of concrete sonic elementsinstead, progressive rock is distinguished by

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a conceptual trope: the appropriation of nonpopular musical forms.1 This definition is a

reasonably well thought out one but still does not describe progressive rock, or any

progressive music, in that great a detail. What of those progressive musicians that do not

appropriate but actually perform non-popular music styles? What of Allan Holdsworth who

does not appropriate the sound world of jazz and rock but actually performs it? The author

makes a valid point about progressive rock being both bigger and smaller than a genre but

fails to state water-tight, accurate reasons for this.

Progressive music is concerned with abstraction and introspection, rather than with the

commercially-driven trends and fashions that shape works created purely for

entertainment. Progressive music always looks forward, striving to be new and different,

dissenting vigorously from the current musical establishment.2 Smiths description is a

good one but assumes that progressive music is always about moving forwards into more

complex and original territories. What of those bands that are somewhat retrospective and

emulate the sound of the progressive rock of history as opposed to innovating and

exploring uncharted sonic territory? Bands such as Porcupine Tree, although an excellent

band, are not a particularly original band; they use the templates already made available to

them by the originators of progressive rock and metal, but it would be tough to deny that

they are anything other than a progressive rock band; they do not slot easily into any other

genre or musical describer.

Unfortunately, the potential for any balanced critical appraisal of progressive rock has

been tainted by faulty generalizations caused by a lack of familiarity with progressive rock

1 Kevin Holm-Hudson, Progressive Rock Reconsidered (New York & London: Routledge, 2002), p.91. 2 Bradley Smith, The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music (New York: Billboard Books, 1997), p.9.

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as a whole.3 This statement from Holm-Hudson is one which best describes the problems

with genre-ising music as progressive rock. Because of the strict, and mostly false,

stereotypes that have been imposed on progressive music, by those who are familiar only

with a handful of progressive rocks exemplifiers, the genre has become tainted as one that

is too serious, too eccentric and perhaps sometimes even too silly to be taken seriously as

an important musical genre.

It is already obvious that progressive rock is a difficult and diverse genre that is surrounded

by issues and problems that make it hard to define. Will Romano, albeit a bit tongue-in-

cheek, provides a decent analogy of the excesses of progressive rock: Progressive rock is a

bit like pornography the lines and definitions can be blurred, but you know it when you

see it.4 Again this is only true of a certain style of progressive music, the 1970s in

particular, as modern day progressive bands can be as unassuming as any other, they no

longer have to dress as wizards and narrate stories that take place in enchanted, magical

lands to be seen as authentic progressive rock musicians.

This essay aims to expose some of these false stereotypes and instead take a detailed look

at the real issues that surround progressive rock and progressive music styles in general. I

will start firstly by taking a brief look at the history of progressive rock, where it came from

and how it evolved. Much has already been written on the progressive rock movement of

the 1970s and so instead I have decided to focus primarily on the early origins (the late

1960s) and on what progressive rock, and progressive music in general, is doing now

(2012) and also touch upon how it is continuing to evolve. I will, of course, give some very

basic information surrounding the 1970s, 80s and 90s as it is important to state key

3 Kevin Holm-Hudson, Progressive Rock Reconsidered (New York & London: Routledge, 2002), p.3. 4 Will Romano, Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock (U.S.A: Backbeat Books, 2010), p.1.

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progressive trends that happened around these times in order to better understand where

the progressive music of today has come from. I will then also briefly look at how the

progressive rock music of the past five decades has shaped, or at least helped to shape,

more modern and vastly different styles of music.

In the second part of this essay I will be identifying some of the issues and problems that

surround progressive music. I will be looking primarily at issues of authenticity and

virtuosity, and how they are responded to by critics and listeners, but will also be looking

into the themes that commonly occur within progressive music and where they come from,

as well as trying to understand the idea behind the concept album.

In the third part of this essay I will look at two very different but very appropriate pieces of

progressive music which I hope will identify and prove some of the points and issues I have

raised in the preceding sections of the essay. They will be analysed according to the issues

raised in the preceding section, with emphasis on finding evidence of those problems, and

not necessarily on traditional / harmonic musical analysis. Finally I will come to a conclusion

as to whether progressive rock has been unfairly treated by critics and academics in the

past and whether or not the issues surrounding it mask the true progressive rock attitude.

History, Culture , Origins and Evolutions

The term progressive rock first appeared in the late 1960s, referring to numerous

coexisting aspects of diversity and eclecticism within rock music.5 Rock musicians,

seemingly no longer content with simple, pentatonic and blues based rock music, were

5 Kevin Holm-Hudson, Progressive Rock Reconsidered (New York & London: Routledge, 2002), p.184.

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beginning to experiment with extended forms, richer instrumentation and sounds

associated with non-western cultures and practices. They also began to take greater

interest in mastering technique and becoming a virtuoso not just of ones chosen

instrument, but also of music and composition. Parallels with this progressive way of

thinking can be drawn with the space race, between the USA and Russia, which ran

throughout the 1960s. Although it is more likely that the primary intentions of reaching

and commanding the space around Earth was for national security purposes, and as

symbolism of technological superiority, it is still interesting that even the political agenda at

this time was to reach uncharted territory, to progress beyond Earth and to search for

something that challenges our understanding. In fact, the whole Sixties attitude was

somewhat progressive. To be progressive is to want to experiment, to want to bend and

perhaps even break the rules and to search for an alternative. The youth culture were no

longer happy to be bound by strict moral and legal practices, they wanted to be free to

explore their sexuality, explore their own bodies and explore altered states of

consciousness (whether by taking drugs or by embracing the values, traditions and

practices of Eastern philosophy, culture and religion). This youth movement later led to the

Hippie subculture, a cultural group who embraced the ideals of the Beat Generation that

had happened before them, with emphasis on experimentation, freedom, rejection of

materialism and expansion of ones consciousness.

The Beatles, and in particular their 1967 Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, were one of

the most important, influential bands that went on to help shape, and indeed create,

progressive rock. This is a sentiment that is backed by several important figureheads and

founding-fathers of progressive rock:

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The Beatles opened up the doors for everybodydare I say the Beatles slip into [progressive rock] a little bit with Sgt. Peppers6 -Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)

To me, the first progressive rock band was the Beatles7 Ian McDonald (King Crimson, Foreigner)

The Beatles led the way8 Justin Hayward (Moody Blues)

The Beatles made it more acceptable for music to expand into other areas9

Sonja Kristina (Curved Air)

Progressive music fans, analysts and educators often cite Sgt. Peppers as the first

progressive rock album, the first concept album (the notion of Sgt. Peppers as the first

concept album will be addressed later in this essay), the album that fed the pseudoclassical

ambitions of many a progressive rock band to come10 and the album that has encouraged

many rock musicians to think that their music might indeed be art11 as well as kick-

starting an era of self-conscious experimentation with the instrumentation and stylistic

features of classical music.12 Sgt. Peppers tells the story of The Lonely Hearts Club Band in

what can be seen as a Musical / West-End format (that is, a story told through music) and

everything about the album is considered a landmark. Sgt. Peppers was the first album to

have printed lyrics (presumably to help narrate the story) and was also one of the first

albums where the artist was allowed to take control of the recording process and have

influence over the sound of the album. Much has been written about The Beatles and Sgt.

Peppers13 and it seems unnecessary to go into great detail here, but it is important to

6 Will Romano, Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock (U.S.A: Backbeat Books, 2010), p.5.

7 Ibid., p.4.

8 Ibid., p.5.

9 Ibid., p.10

10 Kevin Holm-Hudson, Progressive Rock Reconsidered (New York & London: Routledge, 2002), p.7.

11 Ibid., p.7.

12Robert Walser, Eruptions: Heavy Metal Appropriations of Classical Virtuosity, Popular Music, Vol. 11, No. 3 (October,

1992), p.266. 13 Examples of writing on The Beatles and Sgt. Peppers: Olivier Julien, Sgt. Pepper and the Beatles (Ashgate Publishing, 2009) Allan F. Moore, The Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (England: Cambridge University Press, 1997)

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understand the impact that Sgt. Peppers had on not just progressive rock, but on music in

general.

Although some of these accolades can be contested, Sgt. Peppers does provide a useful

starting point on the historical timeline for progressive rock as it is from here that rock

music begins to more evidently evolve into more progressive forms of rock. Progressive

rock however is equally dependant on the psychedelic movement14 of the 1960s counter-

culture, which was popularised by The Beatles, Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane to

name but a few key artists in this era. The early incarnations of progressive rock were

almost an extension of the brand of psychedelic rock that had been pioneered by the jam

band15 the Grateful Dead in that many of them seemingly sought to emulate the

experience of an acid trip, or other drug induced hallucinatory state, whether by the use

of dream-like, exotic or otherworldly sounds or by using lights, smoke and other visual

stimulants to help induce a state of mesmerisation, transcendence and to try and provide

an out-of-body experience for the audience. Indeed this practice still lives on, perhaps most

notably with Porcupine Trees Voyage 34: The Complete Trip (2000) in which the story of

Brian, a man who embarks upon an LSD induced hallucinatory voyage, is narrated on top

of a background of music which fuses progressive rock, psychedelic rock and trance that is

at times very reminiscent of early Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead.

Probably the second most important album in the birthing stages of progressive rock, but

one which is much less discussed, is Pink Floyds The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, also

released in 1967. The Piper, and Pink Floyd in general at this time, can be considered

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Allan F. Moore, Rock: The Primary Text: Developing a Musicology of Rock [2nd

edn.] (England: Ashgate Publishing, 2007), p.69. 15 Jam Band became a genre of its own pioneered by the Grateful Dead in the 1960s and continued by Phish in the 1980s. One of the defining characteristics of jam band music was extensive, improvised instrumental breaks that progressive music owes a large debt of gratitude.

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Britains answer to the sound of the USA based the Grateful Dead; atmospheric,

intoxicating, transcendent, psychedelic and bizarre. The instrumental track Interstellar

Overdrive is particularly progressive sounding and undoubtedly is a source of inspiration for

many of progressive rocks greatest bands and also resembles what could have been very

early post-rock, but of course this would not have been known at the time. (Some details of

post-rock and how it involved from progressive and psychedelic rock will be discussed later

in this essay.) The Piper is also quite important from a lyrical and thematic perspective as it

is an early example of fantasy, space and fairy-tale topics being addressed in the lyrics

which will later prove to be one of progressive rocks most distinguishing features.

In 1969, a little known quartet under the name Igginbottom released Igginbottoms

Wrench, an album as bizarre as the name suggests. This progressive jazz / jazz-rock album

was the first sighting of one of the most forward thinking guitarists to have ever lived, Allan

Holdsworth.16 The album was released through Deram Records (a subsidiary of Decca

Records in the UK) whose speciality was in progressive jazz and rock with artists such as

David Bowie, Caravan, Procul Harum and Curved Air all on their roster at some point.

Although Igginbottoms Wrench is considerably more jazz than it is rock there are certainly

elements in there that suggest this could be the true predecessor to, or originator of,

progressive rock. Although it is unlikely that many progressive musicians ever heard this

album, it certainly shows that the concept of mixing jazz with rock was around before

progressive music really started to develop.

Other important albums in the late 60s include Procul Harums self titled album, The Crazy

World of Arthur Browns self titled album, Caravans self titled album, Genesiss From

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Marco Rossi, Igginbottom Igginbottoms Wrench, Record Collector, 2010, http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/igginbottoms-wrench (accessed: 23/03/2012)

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Genesis to Revelation, The Whos Tommy and Yess self titled album. Each of these albums,

amongst many others, brought something unique to the rock and psychedelic world which

eventually got blended and fused together to form the foundations of early progressive

rock.

The 1970s is considered by many to be Progressive Rocks peak period and it was at this

time that it dominated FM radio and rock album charts,17 something which it struggles to

achieve today. Much has been written on the progressive rock of the 1970s and it seems

unnecessary to duplicate such material here. (Will Romanos Mountains Come Out of the

Sky and Kevin Holm-Hudsons Progressive Rock Reconsidered have several sections

dedicated to the 1970s.) The Me decade, a term coined by novelist Tom Wolfe in the

August 1976 issue of New York magazine, was all about leaving behind the social activism

and the preoccupation with self-awareness and the collective retreat from history,

community, and human reciprocity,18 particularly in America. Some of the ideologies of

Prog Rock, particularly relating to virtuosity and experimentation, certainly tie in with this

idea of self-awareness, but taken to the point where it can be seen as self-indulgent. The

Seventies saw the rise to power of many important and influential Progressive rock bands

including Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, Jethro

Tull, Focus, Yes, Camel, Frank Zappa, Mike Oldfield, Caravan, Gentle Giant, Rush, Kansas,

Genesis and many, many more. To discuss every key artist, without even touching upon

those on the fringes of mainstream success, would be an impossible task. The 1970s saw

the development of the progressive style; from the new born naivety of Sgt. Peppers to

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Kevin Holm-Hudson, Progressive Rock Reconsidered (New York & London: Routledge, 2002), p.2. 18

http://www.enotes.com/1970-lifestyles-social-trends-american-decades/me-decade (accessed: 26/04/2012)

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one of the biggest selling albums of all time, Pink Floyds 1979 The Wall (which is second

only to their 1973 The Dark Side of the Moon in terms of popularity).

The 1980s gave birth to two key new progressive rock genres: Neo-Prog and Pop-Prog.

Neo-Prog was mainly influenced by the music of Yes and Genesis but seemed to do away

with some of the excesses that these bands were both known for and be a little less

theatrical. Bands such as Marillion, Quasar and Pendragon spear-headed the movement

but there generally is not much interest in the Neo-Prog scene today, though of course it

does still exist. The Pop-Prog sound was characterised by the incorporation of progressive

music elements into popular song format. The displays of virtuosity and technique are still

very apparent but they are combined with popular song forms as well as harmony

reminiscent of Abba and the Beach Boys. It Bitess back catalogue and Genesiss Invisible

Touch album are perhaps the best exemplifier of this sound but bands such as Europe and

Magnum took this sound and pushed it even further into popular context by combining it

with elements of Power Metal, Hair Metal and AOR to the point where the only signs of

progressive rock existed in the themes and lyrics of the music.

The 1990s enjoyed probably the most significant of the prog rock revivals (prog having

been slightly revitalised in the 1980s) courtesy mainly of Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater,

Spocks Beard and the Flower Kings. This resurgence of progressive rockwas the result of

the coalescing of forces such as the Internet, the burgeoning festival circuitand the

musicians themselves, who had grown tired of not seeing and hearing the music they

loved.19 The movement stemmed mainly from Sweden with bands such as the Flower

Kingsand Anekdotenoffering nonconformists everywhere an alternative to popular

19 Will Romano, Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock (U.S.A: Backbeat Books, 2010), p.225.

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music20 but also existed in the UK through Steven Wilsons various projects, particularly

Porcupine Tree. This new brand of progressive rock accumulated everything that had gone

before it to create an ever more complex, ever more varied genre. Elements of 1960s

psychedelia, the Krautrock and excesses of the 1970s and the radio-friendly pop-prog

sound of the 1980s all fused alongside a mix of trance, ambient, electronic and heavy

metal styles. This was the New Prog and it is one which still exists today through Steven

Wilsons various projects as well as DeeExpus, Radiohead, Anathema, Frost* and many

others.

Progressive music still continues to grow, particularly within the heavier metal genres. In

1987 Meshuggah (which is Yiddish for crazy or insane21) was formed in Sweden; a band

who went on to create several genre-defining albums. Their first release in 1989, Psykisk

Testbild, was similar to the thrash metal of the period and sounded a lot like Metallica,

Testament and Megadeth but the progressive tendencies of guitarist Fredrik Thordendal

was already starting to show in his playing, as well as in the bands use of unorthodox time

signatures. In 1990 they signed a deal with Nuclear Blast records and in 1991 released their

first LP: Contradictions Collapse. Contradictions, again primarily in a thrash metal style,

started to show signs of development within metal music and was laying the foundations

for the Djent movement, which wouldnt come until much later. Meshuggah went on to

release several more albums, which further twisted and shaped progressive metal, with

each album heavier and more experimental than the last. Their later works exemplify their

signature sound: tight, complex polyrhythmic ideas. They popularised, at least in heavy

metal, the concept of layered time signatures with the cymbals, hi-hat and snare drum

20 Will Romano, Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock (U.S.A: Backbeat Books, 2010), p.226. 21

Jonathan Pieslak, Re-Casting Metal: Rhtyhm and Meter in the Music of Meshuggah, Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Fall, 2007), p.219.

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holding a four-four beat whilst the guitars and kick drum counterpoint in mixed, changing,

odd-time meters (25/16, 7/8, 11/8 and 23/16 seem common).22

In around 2005 Misha Mansoor of Periphery used the term djent (which had been coined

in the early 2000s by Fredrik Thordendal)23 as a way of describing the sound of palm muted

power chords or riffs; an onomatopoeia for the sound of heavily gated and processed guitar

tones.24 Since then several bands, TesseracT, Animals as Leaders and of course Meshuggah

and Periphery, have established the genre as an offshoot of progressive metal and it

continues to expand and grow in popularity. It is a reasonable assumption that the future of

progressive metal will live on in, and take shape through, djent music and it is certain that

djent will continue to develop and evolve beyond itself.

Alongside the djent movement, but in a complete league of its own, a powerful and unique

fusion has been taking shape. This music, as of yet, does not have a firm classification

attached to it and is cautiously bubbling away in the underground. Progressive Fusion is

perhaps the best way to describe the work that Allan Holdsworth and George Bellas are

doing. These musicians are polar opposites in some respects yet homogenous in others.

Their sound world is vast, varying and fresh with emphasis on extreme virtuosity.

George Bellas (British born but currently residing in North America) is a heavily progressive

musician who takes inspiration from all genres and styles of music, especially in his latest

works. He started out with music in the popular Neo-Classical style but later developed into

progressive and fusion territories. Bellas is a romantic at heart composing music with thick

22 Jonathan Pieslak, Re-Casting Metal: Rhtyhm and Meter in the Music of Meshuggah, Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Fall, 2007), p.219-245. 23

Jamie Thomson, Djent, the metal geeks microgenre, The Guardian, March 3rd

2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/mar/03/djent-metal-geeks (accessed: 23/03/2012) 24

Ibid.

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textures, dense instrumentation, lyrical melodies, unorthodox harmonies, complex time

signature and rhythmic ideas and bouts of extreme technical prowess. He is a unique breed

of musician that looks back in time for influence and ideas, from the Baroque, Classical,

Romantic and Modern periods, but also looks forward in time to the music that might be

being composed in twenty years or so and composes music to help facilitate that change.

He will often coalesce baroque era counterpoint with the polyrhythmic ideas of Meshuggah

whilst a jazz or classical infused piano part underpins the harmony, all stabilised by a

progressive rock bass line and drumbeat.

Allan Holdsworth (born in England but relocated to Scotland at an early age) on the other

hand is very much part of the jazz school. He started out in 1969 in early jazz-rock band

Igginbottom and since then has gone on, much like Bellas, to transcend musical boundaries

and to invent new genres of music. His style is somewhat similar to Bellas in the sense that

he explores complex or advanced musical ideas, particularly those relating to rhythm,

meter and harmony, yet at the same time is worlds apart. Most of Holdsworths influences

can be found in early fusion, Bebop and Jazz musicians, especially saxophone players. His

music can be diatonic (rarely), atonal or, more usually, metatonal (both with and without

tonality; constantly moving into various harmonic areas).

Both Holdsworth and Bellas are composing and performing the same, unnamed style of

music but Holdsworths is based on the jazz tradition and Bellass is based on the art music

and rock traditions.

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Power Metal and Other Evolutions of Progressive Rock

As with all genres, progressive rock has become distorted, altered and changed over the

years to become something which is significantly different to that of the original

progressive sound of the bands of the 1970s. It has constantly evolved into new sonic

territories, some of which are more complex and some of which are musically much

simpler, and continues to do so; the influence of progressive rock on many modern musical

genres can be quite easily traced.

Manowar (formed in 1980) took the heavy metal sound of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest,

among others, and merged it with progressive rock and, some elements of, punk to form

power metal. Power metal takes all of the bombastic qualities and conceptuality of

progressive rock and melds it with the raucousness and the power of heavy metal. There

are two distinct brands of power metal: American and European. The American brand is

exemplified by Manowar whose music is bombastic, loud and powerful with lyrics and

themes centred primarily on mythology (particularly Norse) and barbaric, hyper-masculine

imagery; muscle-clad warriors wielding swords. Although Manowar took influences from

progressive rock it is fair to say that power metal is musically much simpler in terms of

structure, instrumentation and musicality, favouring four-four time signatures, repetitive

melodies and hooks, basic triadic harmony and chord progressions common to punk music.

The European brand (which later extended to South America and the Far East) is often

more experimental (within its own boundaries), melodic and closer to the ideals of

progressive rock. The European power metal scene arguably started with Judas Priest, Iron

Maiden and Accept. Whilst these three bands have distinct and original sounds they do also

share certain characteristics. Judas Priest stand on their own as some of the founding-

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fathers of modern heavy metal, reminiscent of Black Sabbath but with more power, less

doom25 and more overt masculinity. Iron Maiden were similar to Judas Priest in the early

days, but experimented with extended structures and forms as well as some of the

concepts and thematic ideals of progressive rock. Accept were most similar to AC/DC but

again incorporated elements of progressive rock, even if it was done so in jest, such as the

use of quoting classical music in their songs.26 All three of these bands have at some point

been referred to as speed metal, or at least the originators of, and power metal can also be

seen as an extension of speed metal, or having influence from.

In the music of Iron Maiden there is a lot of emphasis on harmonised guitar lines and riffs,

such as the iconic intros to The Trooper and Aces High, and references to this can also be

found in the music of Accept, perhaps most notably in the harmonised guitar solo of Fast

as a Shark. Iron Maiden also took to the progressive attitude of having longer songs with

more complex structures, such as Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, The Rime of the Ancient

Mariner and Fear of the Dark amongst many others.

As a further development, in the mid to late 1990s, power metal became prefixed with

varying descriptive terms including progressive, melodic, epic, symphonic and any

combination of those words. Nightwish, a quintet from Finland formed in 1996, were one

of the earliest to be classed as symphonic power metal. Quite what is meant by that phrase

is open to personal interpretation (as there are very few elements that could be classified

as relating to a symphony) but it seems that the term is given to any power metal band that

uses orchestral arrangements within their music in search of the big, bold, Hollywood film

25

Doom is a genre of music characterised by sombre, downbeat atmospheres often incorporating droning and set at slow tempos using minor tonality to suggest impending dread. Black Sabbath are cited as being the first doom band, especially tracks such as Iron Man and Electric Funeral. 26

See for example the guitar solo in Metal Heart where an appropriation of Beethovens Fur Elise is used.

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music sound. Nightwish also take on a lot of progressive elements, particularly in relation to

lyrics and themes, and are regularly classified as symphonic progressive power metal. The

list of prefixes attached to the word metal in order to characterise and market music as

being original is ever-expanding. It is all very complicated, as classification is, and power

metal is perhaps as hard to define as progressive rock. Once more the words of Will

Romano ring true: [Power Metal] is a bit like pornography the lines and definitions can be

blurred, but you know it when you see it.27

In the early 1990s another movement, with its roots in progressive and psychedelic rock,

was starting to take shape. Bands such as Slint and Tortoise were laying the foundations of

post-rock, a genre of music that uses traditional rock instruments but in a way they were

not necessarily intended for. The sound of post-rock is usually ambient, droning and

ethereal (the antithesis of rocks visceral power28), invoking comfort, relaxation or wonder

(much like the psychedelic and early progressive rock bands intended) and fuses a rock

sound with electronica, dub, space rock, progressive rock, krautrock or any other of a

widespread range of influences. Post-rock musicians were not, and are not, concerned with

overt displays of virtuosity, instead all [of] the action is in its texture and its size: Grim,

bottomless, even disorienting.29 Post-rock is more concerned with sound and texture than

melodic hooks or song structure30 and was actually a rebellion against the

commercialisation of rock and the radio-friendly rock sound. Post-rock is psychedelic rock

for the 1990s.

27

Will Romano, Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock (U.S.A: Backbeat Books, 2010), p.1. 28

Anon, Explore Music: Post-Rock http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/d2682 (05/04/2012) 29 Nitsuh Abebe, The Lost Generation (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com), p.4. 30

Anon, Explore Music: Post-Rock http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/d2682 (05/04/2012)

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Towards the end of the century post-rock was seen by critics and listeners as an exhausted

genre and one that should be left behind at the turn of the century. However, there was a

breed of new post-rock bands, most importantly Explosions In The Sky and Mogwai, who

would ensure that the legend of post-rock lived on. Today post-rock can be very successful

commercially and has a fanbase that extends around the world and transcends age, gender

and race, which a lot of music can struggle to achieve.

The third child of progressive rock is one which exists in the Far East, having originated in

Japan. Visual Kei, which translates as Visual Style, typically refers more to the image of a

band, or a fashion style, than a particular genre of music. It arose in the early 1980s,

particularly with X Japan (1982), and was an appropriation of European power metal, mixed

with subtle progressive gestures, but instead of having a powerful, traditional masculine

image the musicians instead dressed androgynously often wearing makeup, womens

clothing, glitter and all manner of stereotypically feminine accessories. Quick comparisons

can be drawn between Visual Kei and the Glam and Hair-Metal movements of the 1970s

and 80s Western world, but taken to the point where the androgynous imagery can

genuinely confuse and mask the biological sexuality of a person. In the mid 1990s Visual

Kei hit what was arguably its peak period with many new bands and artists adopting the

style as well as getting plenty of commercial air time, mainly thanks to its more radio

friendly cousins J-Pop and J-Rock. By the end of the 90s Visual Kei was declining but around

2008 the style came back as X Japan and Luna Sea reformed as well as the birth of several

new important bands: Dir En Grey, Versailles and Nightmare who went on to spread the

music and fashion of Visual Kei around the world, most notably in Europe and North

America.

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All of these genres of music have been manipulated, twisted and fused with each other to

form new, interesting and experimental sound worlds. Progressive metal, post-rock and

black metal combined to create atmospheric black metal (Wodensthrone, Thus Defiled and

Bornholm), power metal fused with progressive metal to form progressive (or Epic) power

metal (Rhapsody of Fire, Fairyland and Sonata Arctica) and progressive metal fused with

death metal and hardcore to create melodic death metal (In Flames, Children Of Bodom

and Dark Tranquillity) to give but a few examples of how far the influence of progressive

rock can be traced.

The Search for Authenticity and the Art Music Influence

Authenticity: that most vast and ambiguous of subjects and one which repeatedly causes

simultaneous appraisal and criticism of an artist or musician; what is authentic to one is

blasphemy to another. Authenticity is a highly problematic subject; of all the value terms in

music discourse, [authenticity is] perhaps the most loaded.31 It is a word which means

vastly different things to different people and one which is often used, particularly in

journalism, without much understanding. Authenticity is unequivocally about claim to

truth; to be authentic is to be truthful. In order to be an authentic heavy metal musician

one must understand where the music comes from, have studied its history and be able to

compose within a prescribed template whilst at the same time not copying note-for-note

those who have gone before them. However, it is controversial to claim to be authentic and

those that do are suspect to a barrage of abuse and scrutiny. Authenticity is not inscribed

31 Allan F. Moore, Authenticity as Authentication, Popular Music, Vol. 21, No. 2 (May, 2002), p.209.

21

but ascribed;32 it is a matter of interpretation which is made and fought for from within a

cultural and, thus, historicised position.33

Issues of authenticity creep into all areas of music but are particularly powerful within

composition and recording. Composition is touched upon in the previous paragraph; to be

authentic one must compose within a prescribed form and must include certain musical /

stylistic traits. To be authentically punk one must compose music which is raw, pure,

aggressive and musically simple or accessible. Authenticity in recording is perhaps one of

the hottest debates of current times. As music technology advances, and musicians become

more reliant on it, issues of authenticity start to appear. One of the more sensitive topics is

that of pitch correction software being used, primarily on vocalists, to perfect intonation

and tuning. This is seen as unauthentic on several levels. The first is that common belief is

now that anyone can be made to sound professional and trained by using software, such as

Antares Auto-Tune or Celemony Melodyne, to correct the pitch of their voice. Although this

is not strictly true it is interesting that people are outraged by it, yet seem none too

bothered by the fact that none of the instruments on the recording are real. Evidently it is

acceptable that the music can be performed by, and sometimes written by, a computer,

but when a computer is used to aid a vocalist this is deemed unauthentic. Many similar

arguments occur daily on internet forums and in magazines where the purists attack new-

school methods of recording, which is reliant primarily on computers, and the progressives

state the purists as being outdated. Some of these discourses have been exploited by

musicians as a way to market their music and encourage fans to ascribe authenticity to

them. There is an interesting statement by George Bellas on his website regarding his 2010

32 Allan F. Moore, Authenticity as Authentication, Popular Music, Vol. 21, No. 2 (May, 2002), p.210. 33 Ibid., p.210

22

album The Dawn of Time: the production is dynamic, clean, and has an open sound to it

allowing the music to breath naturally.34 Dynamic, clean, open, natural, these are words

which are commonly used to advertise authenticity and encourage the ascription of it yet

they usually have very little substance to them. Using pitch correction, compressors or

limiters on instruments is unauthentic, but recording them digitally and adding artificial

delay and reverb is acceptable.

It is no secret that progressive musicians thought of themselves, and some still do think of

themselves, as being far more important, more advanced or more high-brow than

musicians of less complex, or more mainstream, genres. Progressive musicians tend to

write compositions and not songs, and they also seek, or claim to seek, influence from

the great composers of, usually, the baroque and romantic eras in an effort to somehow

make their music more serious, more academic and more purposeful, as opposed to the

fun, throw-away songs of simple, low-brow pop and rock and roll musicians. However,

like any musical ideology, opinion has varied as to whether this association with high-brow

music actually makes progressive rock less authentic as a rock subgenre. The

preoccupation of some progressive rock artists with aspects of serious art music was

condemned by many mainstream critics as abandonment of rocks roots in the blues.35

Although progressive rock music was not, and is not, overtly blues based there is still plenty

of evidence to suggest that the blues was not completely disregarded as Emerson, Lake

and Palmer frequently used twelve-bar-blues structures in their songs [and] King Crimson

frequently incorporated passages derived from the twelve-bar-blues harmonic

34

http://www.georgebellas.com/MainSite/Pages/Album_TDOT.html (accessed: 30/04/2010) 35 Kevin Holm-Hudson, Progressive Rock Reconsidered (New York & London: Routledge, 2002), p.9.

23

progression.36 On a much more foreground level the use of power-chords, as found in all

genres of rock and metal music, commonly occurred and the blues-rock background of

many of the early progressive guitar players was very evident in their solos. Allan F. Moore

also counters the idea that progressive rock was about removing any traces of the blues:

this music seems to me not to be about destroying the norms of beat/r&b, but to be about

extending them.37 The idea of improvisations, both short and long, can also be traced back,

through the psychedelic movement and before that jazz, to the blues, particularly when

involving guitarists or vocalists. It is obvious that the argument that progressive rock is not

authentically rock music does not hold up well when under scrutiny.

The search for authenticity makes for strange decisions. George Bellas often states that he

writes his music using standard notation, as opposed to instrument specific tablature or

other modern means of notating music, and often without an instrument in front of him,

much like some of the great composers who often had little more than pen and paper, as if

it provides some magical authenticity, seriousness, or brings him closer to the great

composers. Because sheet music is typical only of orchestral, traditional jazz, or other high-

brow music it is therefore raised on a pedestal by those who dont understand it, it is seen

as complex and clever, therefore anyone who uses it must be highly skilled, a member of

the elite and more authentic as a musician and composer. Of course this is not to deny that

Bellas is a highly skilled composer, it is simply to use him as an exemplifier of some of the

common markers of what is seen as authenticity.

36 Kevin Holm-Hudson, Progressive Rock Reconsidered (New York & London: Routledge, 2002), p.9. 37 Allan F. Moore, Rock: The Primary Text: Developing a Musicology of Rock [2nd edn.] (England: Ashgate Publishing, 2007), p.69.

24

Like Bellas, there are many progressive rock and metal musicians that claim to draw on

influences, whether directly or indirectly, from the art music canon. Although Walser is

predominantly addressing these issues in relation to heavy metal, and not necessarily

progressive music, his point is still a relevant one:

Heavy metal appropriations of classical music are in fact very specific and consistent: Bach not Mozart, Paganini rather than Liszt, Vivaldi and Albinoni instead of Telemann or Monteverdi. This selectivity is remarkable at a time when the historical and semiotic specificity of classical music, on its own turf, has all but vanished, when the classical canon is defined and marketed as a reliable set of equally great and ineffable collectables.38

How can one be claiming to draw on the art music tradition and be incorporating classical

music influences into their own music if they only ever reference a handful of baroque

period composers? Even the most famous of all of the neo-classical guitar heroes, Yngwie

Malmsteen, rarely ventures outside of the works of Bach, Paganini or Vivaldi. Perhaps this

is because the music written in the baroque period is one which quite easily translates to

guitar or perhaps because it is simpler, easier to understand and to compose, and therefore

easier to appropriate, than the works of the late romantics and modern and post-modern

composers? Regardless of the answer, Malmsteen is seen as an influential composer when

in fact all he is doing is re-arranging and appropriating the works of, usually, J.S. Bach.

There are some progressive musicians however that actually draw influence from the art

music tradition, and these musicians tend to be the least commercially successful. George

Bellas, who was mentioned previously, really has studied, analysed and interpreted the

music of many composers starting, like most, with the baroque period and working through

to the late romantics and beyond. It is evident in his music, particularly his later work, that

this is a man whom has absorbed influences from a wide range of musical styles, not just

38 Robert Walser, Eruptions: Heavy Metal Appropriations of Classical Virtuosity, Popular Music, Vol. 11, No. 3 (October, 1992), p.267.

25

classical but also jazz, fusion, blues and rock, and is not one who appropriates, but actually

performs his influences. Behold The Arctopus (hereafter abbreviated as BTA) are another

fine example of performance of art music influence as opposed to appropriation of. BTA

have been labelled as every genre under the sun: Death Metal, Tech Metal, Sport Metal,

Jazz Fusion, Jazz-Metal, Mathcore, Experimental Metal, Progressive Metal and Avant-Garde

Metal amongst others and have cited influences that include Schoenberg, Bartok and

Penderecki. These are not names that one often cites as influences and so one must do so

with care. What is important here is that you can hear some actual influence of the musical

minds of, particularly, Schoenberg and Bartok especially when it comes to the use of

Klangfarbenmelodie, which Schoenberg was particularly noted for, and composition based

on number sequences, instead of traditional harmonic and melodic pitch patterns, as well

as the late romantic and modern ideologies of texture, atmosphere and colour being

equally, if not more so, important than memorable melodies or music that is easy to

superficially connect with.

Lyrics, Themes and the Concept Album

Progressive music is very often based in the realms of the romantic with nature, love,

fantasy, ethereality and science being the go to themes for source material. Lyrics found in

progressive music are usually well written with writers seeking the most descriptive, most

poetic language rather than the catchiest or most memorable words and phrases strung

together, as can be found in a lot of popular music.

The use of fantasy literature and concepts commonly occur within progressive music and

especially within its offshoot genre, power metal. As previously discussed, progressive

26

music has always been about transcending the boundaries of the ordinary, whether by

using aural or visual stimulants, so it makes sense that progressive rock should exist in a

world outside of our own, a fictitious, fantasy land where the rules can be different to that

of Earth and everyday life. This is a concept that has been greatly explored and when doing

so it is common for such explorations to be in the concept album format, which will be

discussed later in this chapter. It is hard to pinpoint exactly when fantasy and ethereality

really started to play an important part in the lyrics of progressive rock and equally as hard

to say where it came from. One early example is David Bowies Space Oddity (1969) which,

although not progressive rock, is certainly an early breed of progressive music that shows

influences of fantasy, nature and science starting to appear. Bowies persona Ziggy Stardust

(created in the early 1970s) is an example of living the fantasy concept; Ziggy was an alien

rockstar that had descended on Earth. Since then, more and more elaborate fantasies have

been formed, some of which require a great deal of work to construct. Some musicians,

such as Italian progressive power metal (or, to put it in their own terms, Film Score Metal39)

band Rhapsody of Fire, have taken to creating entire worlds with a series of characters and

some albums have actually been written out as a short novel beforehand. The work of J.R.R

Tolkien rings loud in the lyrics of RoF and on several of their songs legendary actor

Christopher Lee (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings) narrates the story and sings several verses.

This use of fantasy and romanticism in the lyrics of progressive rock music is one of its most

defining stylistic traits, especially in the early years, but it is also one which has been

subject to criticism; the rock critic establishment, for the most part, hated them.40

Although the preceding citation is directed primarily at the lyrics written by Pink Floyd then

39

http://www.rhapsodyoffire.com/band (accessed: 05/04/2012) 40 Kevin Holm-Hudson, Progressive Rock Reconsidered (New York & London: Routledge, 2002), p.96.

27

front man Roger Waters, it is still relative of how a lot of critics thought at the time, and

indeed many still do (and not just critics but listeners in general) think that the lyrics of

progressive rock and power metal are somewhat silly or too serious. Until progressive rock

came around the lyrics in popular styles of music were primarily upbeat, positive or at least

attached a human emotional element to them. Love, life, sex, drugs and rock n roll were

the most common themes in popular music, so when progressive rock lyrics started to

voice political opinions and narrate tales of death, or otherwise serious topics, a negative

reaction from critics was always going to be likely as humanity often reacts negatively to

changes in tradition. The opening lines of Yess 1974 The Revealing Science of God (from

Tales of Topographic Oceans) are a prime example of the poetry in lyrics concept:

Dawn of light lying between A silence and sold sources

Chased amid fusions of wonder In moments hardly seen forgotten

Coloured in pastures of chance Dancing leaves cast spells of challenge

Amused but real in though We fled from the sea whole

These lyrics are in a style of writing usually associated with poetry, particularly

romanticism. Strong metaphors and ambiguous ideas outline typically romantic sentiments

of dawn, day-break, silence, wonder, open pastures, the sea and nature which are all seen,

at least up until this point, as serious poetic concepts and topics best left to the poets and

composers of opera music. In fact, progressive rock owes quite a lot to the operatic

tradition in terms of concept; themes of love and tragedy juxtaposed against each other,

and the overall theatrical-ness associated with both progressive rock and romantic era

opera.

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The concept album is another interesting development within the progressive rock world. A

concept album, by definition, is an album which contains a cycle of songs expressing a

particular theme or an album where each song is designed like a chapter in a book,

narrating a long story. The idea of the concept album owes a lot to the opera and musical

theatre traditions where stories are told through music. The earliest concept album is

nearly always cited as being the Beatless Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band but, as

mentioned earlier in this essay, there are albums which existed before Sgt. Peppers that

deserve recognition of being perhaps true originators of the concept album format. In 1940

Woody Guthrie released Dust Bowl Ballads which is perhaps the earliest example of the

concept album within mainstream music. Dust Bowl Ballads is a simple guitar and vocal

album in a blues-folk style which chronicles the exodus of Midwesterners headed for

California and mirrors both Guthries own life and John Steinbecks novel The Grapes of

Wrath. Along the way, characters are forced into theft, murder, and unbearable hardship

against a biblical backdrop of the American West.41 This is an early example of the concept

album, each song is almost like a chapter in a novel, narrating the story of various

characters in a world that Guthrie has created (or borrowed from real world experiences

and Steinbecks novel).

In 1950 Frank Sinatra released In the Wee Small Hours which is considered another early

example of the concept album. This time the album does not flow like a novel but instead

the concept is that of love lost and loneliness; every song on the album is about the same

topic. Sinatra then went on to create several more concept albums in the 1950s. So

although it is fair to say that Sgt. Peppers certainly is a concept album, and perhaps the

41 http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=939 (accessed: 08/05/2012)

29

first concept album to exist within a rock setting, it certainly was not the first album to

narrate a story or have a concept.

It is also important to mention, even in passing, the importance that the package as a

whole concept has on the concept album. This is an idea that arguably did start with Sgt.

Peppers in that the album artwork, booklet and packaging plays an important role in the

telling of the story. The front cover artwork often depicts some essence of the music,

whether it is where the musical story takes place or the outline of the characters or plot,

and it can sometimes also be seen as a fully-featured and descriptive graphic score of the

album. Sgt Peppers album cover (App. 1) is a portrait of all of the characters involved in the

story and is arguably the album that was the first to do this. Since then the idea has been

greatly explored, particularly in the 1970s and in more recent times, and this idea will be

revisited in the analyses which occur toward the end of this essay.

The concept album arguably hit its peak period in the 1970s, coinciding with progressive

rocks peak period, where many important and influential concept albums were released

including: Yess Tales of Topographic Oceans, Pink Floyds The Dark Side of the Moon, Rick

Wakemans Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Genesiss The Lamb Lies Down on

Broadway. However, it is still a widely used idea, and method of composition, today and

not only in the progressive rock world but in many genres and musical styles.

Issues of Virtuosity

One of the most debated elements of progressive music is of its reliance on virtuosity,

technicality and complexity. There is no escaping the fact that progressive music styles are

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very reliant on virtuosity, in one way or another, but it is how the virtuosity is displayed

that is sometimes criticised. Virtuosity, much like authenticity, is an often used and highly

ambiguous term. To be a virtuoso one must have mastered their chosen instrument, have

technical superiority over it and be able to command it and exploit it entirely. But one can

also be a virtuoso of music, and beyond that into individual genres and styles of music,

which is where the term can become ambiguous. A virtuoso of blues guitar music and a

virtuoso of electronic dance music are two entirely different people with entirely different

skill sets, yet they are commonly compared and contrasted, mainly within discussion

forums. There is no scale to measure virtuosity and this adds further ambiguousness to the

term; who decides who is virtuoso and who is not? Bach for example was undoubtedly a

virtuoso of music, a true master, but if he had existed today, and not in the late 1600s and

early 1700s, would he still be described as such? Are composers of baroque period music

virtuosic by current standards? There is no right and wrong answer to who is virtuosic and

who is not as, like authenticity, virtuoso is not an inscribed term but an ascribed one,

ascribed by critics and fans as a way of raising their heroes up high on a pedestal looking

down on the non-virtuosic musicians.

The idea of the virtuoso has become fetishised;42 we are obsessed with virtuosos not only

of music but in all areas of life. Footballers, athletes, painters, sculptors, dancers, actors,

singers, and many more all have within them people who are heralded as virtuosos of their

activity or occupation. The world is regularly ascribing the term virtuoso to people, and

with that term often comes financial gain. Because of the possibility of financial gain the

term virtuoso has, of course, also been exploited as a marketing and advertising term. With

42 J. N. Burk, The Fetish of Virtuosity, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 2 (April, 1918), p.282-292. [Although Burks article is an ageing one, it is still quite relevant in modern times.]

31

the increase in popularity of the electric guitar came the evolution from memorabilia and

merchandise (posters and tee-shirts) towards signature gear and collectibles. It is now not

at all uncommon, especially within the guitar world, for a musician to have several

signature instruments and company affiliations. Joe Bonamassa, one of the current blues

guitar heroes, is the perfect exemplifier of this idea. He currently has many signature

products on the market that range from guitars and amplifiers (costing several thousand

pounds each) to effects pedals, plectrums, cables, pickups and even cabinet baffles!43

People buy very easily into the idea that buying some of these products will instantly make

you sound like your hero, as if some of the virtuosity is magically transferred from the

instrument to your hands eliminating the need for actual practice.

The word virtuosity has always hadderogatory associationsfor the term implies that technical excellence has become an end in itself. It is a mistake, however, to dismiss it at that, for it has undoubtedly played, and will play, an important part in the development of music, even though it has always been accompanied by a degenerate and retro-gressive element. The history of European music is punctuated with periodsduring which the virtuoso has flourished, and which have resulted both in an advance of the art of music and in the production of much that was inferior. 44

This opening statement to Harmans article is of vital importance. It explains that although

virtuosity has derogatory connotations it is also absolutely necessary for the evolution of

music. In order to advance and progress beyond the current it, whether an art form or a

technological piece of equipment, must become capable of doing more than it already can

and therefore, usually, must become more complex. If musicians had not become virtuosos

and masters of tonal music, and wished to develop it further, then music would likely be

stuck in the romantic era and experiments with atonality would never have happened. The

problem with virtuosity, which is touched upon in Harmans opening statement, is when it

becomes the sole means to an end. When harmony, melody and rhythm are no longer 43 http://jbstore.jbonamassa.com/equipment/ (accessed: 01/05/2012) 44 R. A. Harman, Virtuosity and Music, The Musical Times, Vol. 84, No. 1209 (November, 1943), p.329.

32

important, and the music is instead purely based upon overt displays of technicality, then it

is easy to understand how virtuosity can become tiring. The music of Francesco Fareri, an

Italian electric guitar player, is a constant barrage of notes, there is very little in the way of

melody and the harmonies and rhythms are generic and repetitive. Almost every track on

each of his albums is in this style and whilst the speed is impressive it certainly can become

boring very quickly and this style of music, commonly now known as guitar shredding,

comes under a lot of heavy criticism on new media websites and is often described as being

sport as opposed to music.

The notion that listeners are becoming bored of virtuosity, and at times even describing it

as sport, is a sign that the collective is becoming bored not of virtuosity itself, but of the

clichs of virtuosity. Rimsky-Korsakovs once brilliant and innovative Flight of the

Bumblebee has since had its reputation tarnished by those who seek to play it faster than

anyone else. The popular video sharing website YouTube is littered with videos of musicians

playing Flight of the Bumblebee ever faster and on ever more unorthodox instruments. The

most common are of course electric guitar, piano and violin but there are also videos of

musicians hurtling through Flight of the Bumblebee on marimba, organ, accordion,

harmonica and even steel drums.

The progressive rock realm has of course seen more than its fair share of so-called

virtuosos. In the 1960s, and of course still in the present day, The Beatles were seen as

virtuosos of popular song composition and Jimi Hendrix was the ultimate guitar hero, the

most technically advanced guitar player to have emerged thus far. Hendrix arguably kick-

started the idea of the virtuoso guitar hero and influenced, and continues to influence,

many, many players that have risen to fame since then. The 1970s brought with it Eric

33

Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck and it was this period that perhaps started to show that

the electric guitar could be a much more advanced, much more versatile instrument than

once thought. The 1980s gave birth to many of the greatest and most virtuosic guitar

players but none were, arguably, more influential than Yngwie Malmsteen. Malmsteen

made popular the neo-classical sound, based on appropriations of baroque and classical

period music, which had been pioneered by Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth and Randy

Rhoads, and probably influenced more young players around that time than anybody else.

The nineties and the noughties has seen continuous development of electric guitar

technique with players getting ever faster, more technical and much more mature and at

a frighteningly young age. The virtuoso has always been an important part of our culture,

and will continue to be so, and, in Harmans words, will [continue to] play an important

part in the development of music.45

X Japan Art of Life

In 1993, X Japan (until this point known simply as X) released the album Art of Life. This

album consists of just one song, composed in a pseudo-symphony form, and is twenty-nine

minutes in length. Art of Life was predominantly written by band founder, classically-

trained pianist and drummer Yoshiki Hayashi. Yoshiki was interested in the music of

Beethoven and Schubert from an early age and in the 1970s was exposed to the rock and

metal music that was popular at that time. Since that time he has created and participated

in several bands and also composed music for film, including American horror film Saw IV,

45 R. A. Harman, Virtuosity and Music, The Musical Times, Vol. 84, No. 1209 (November, 1943), p.329.

34

and also has his own charity and fashion ranges. He is quite a popular figure in modern

Japanese culture and is, according to his biography, to Japan what Bono is to the UK.46

Art of Life is very evidently a mixture of musical styles, predominantly progressive and

power metal, and contains elements of rock and metal as well as European classical music.

Most of the music is typical of what is expected of progressive rock music and also

exemplifies a lot of the problems and issues that were discussed in the preceding chapter.

Firstly, the very thought that Yoshiki, the chief songwriter, is classically-trained immediately

conjures an aura of authenticity; a degree of respect is immediately earned that perhaps

makes the listener take more notice, take the music more seriously. Secondly is the theme

of the lyrics. Although the lyrics, interestingly in English (most likely in order to appeal to

the European and Western markets), are relatively simple they are still poetic and full of

powerful, romantic and dark imagery. They tell the story of love, lust, human obsession,

heartache, seclusion, loneliness, dreaming and pain, topics of which are all very common in

the progressive domain. Thirdly, of course, is the art music influence that is very evident in

the construction of the song and also in many of its themes and individual parts. The piece

features not only an extended piano solo (of around ten minutes) but also a string section

throughout which is common to progressive music as it attempts to fuse orchestral music

with rock music. Finally is the obvious virtuosity of the piece; not only are all of the

musicians clearly technically skilled but the size and scale of the composition is a display of

virtuosity in itself.

Interestingly, and following on from the progressive rock tradition of the entire package

(artwork / presentation as well as the music) being important, the front cover or album

46 http://www.xjapanmusic.com/yoshiki/ (accessed: 03/05/2012)

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artwork of Art of Life teases at what the story of the music is about.(App. 2) The artwork

depicts the two important themes in the music, life (on the left) and death (on the right.)

The left half of the face appears to be that of a woman, though with the androgynous

traditions and fashion styles of the Visuel Kei movement this could certainly be a man, with

a determined, almost slightly psychotic gaze and appearance. The right hand side of the

face is depicted as a skull which, more often than not, represents danger or death. The

artwork already hints at what the theme of the album is likely to be: life, death and how the

two bleed together.

Art of Life begins rather simply with a guitar, piano, strings and vocals in what could be

considered the ballad section of the track. This theme sets up the remainder of the music,

much like an overture, and this theme is revisited and referenced several times. The

majority of the music is actually reasonably simple in terms of harmony, melody and

construction, following in a typical rock fashion with verses, choruses, interludes and guitar

solos. Arguably the most important part of the music is the piano solo, set in a quasi-sonata

form, in the middle of the song; the rest of the music seems to frame this section. It begins

at around fifteen minutes with a simple, recurring theme in the right hand part. It starts

very tonally, very musically and quite predictably but slowly but surely the harmony and

melody start to become obscured. The piano moves through a romantic or experimental

phase which is much more expressive and personal. At the height of the solo the harmony

and melody is almost completely removed from the music and replaced with angry,

textural, chromatic and tight cluster keyboard bashing that is either very cleverly

constructed, or purely random. After this the piano reverts back through itself to the more

tonal, melodic playing of the beginning of the solo. What Yoshiki seems to be doing here is

36

using very strong word-painting; the piano tells the same story as the lyrics; it is a man

fighting with himself inside, fighting for and against life. Towards the latter parts of this

section there are also some string parts in the background which are much more tonal,

much simpler. It is my belief that the piano here could represent the turmoil and pain of life

and the string parts represent the simplicity of death, the easy way out. Does one continue

fighting with life, or take the easy way out? Ultimately, and sadly, the string part takes

precedence in the music and the piano drops out. This is perhaps the most powerful few

bars of the entire piece. However, the grand, powerful cadence is interrupted by the return

of the verse as if, on the edge of death, one is brought back to life to give it one more fight.

This kind of sonic imagery is very typical of progressive music and is a trait taken from

classical symphonies. The song ends rather ambiguously, the lyrics (cant let my heart kill

myself, still Im feeling for, a rose is breathing love, in my life) ring somewhat positive but

the music never actually fully cadences, suggesting there is more to say or that the narrator

dies shortly before he can finish telling the story, again a simple but very powerful means of

musical communication.

George Bellas Step Into the future

Step Into the Future is perhaps one of the best exemplifiers of the issues and concepts

surrounding progressive rock. Released in early 2009, Step Into the Future is perhaps

Bellass boldest and most progressive body of work to date47 and features just one,

entirely instrumental, piece which is around seventy-six minutes in length. Bellass

intention with this album was to reach beyond current boundaries and try new unexplored

47

http://www.georgebellas.com/MainSite/Pages/PressRelease.html (accessed: 07/05/2012)

37

ideas rather than rehashing cliche formulas.48 Quite what is meant by such a statement is

open to personal interpretation but it is my belief that what George is trying to do is create

new music; a style of music which until this album had not previously existed. Whether he

has achieved this is, again, open to personal interpretations and depends on ones

expectation of what new music should sound like, but it is certainly an interesting and

original composition to study.

As one would expect, Step Into the Future consists of several recurring themes, segments or

ideas that are glued together in what seems to be a logical, flowing way, as opposed to a

random one. The themes vary in style, from slow, melodic and rhythmic, to fast, sharp and

difficult but flow into one another in a way that is comfortable and logical. Each segment

showcases a different musical period with the majority being focussed on modernism and

romanticism. The theme of the entire album is of course futurism which is typical of

modern progressive music and indeed the progressive outlook in general; humanity has

always been obsessed with what the future may be like and it is evident that Bellas too is

interested in how it may sound. The album artwork(App. 3) also hints at aspects of futurism

and abstractism but also plays perhaps a more important role than it may first seem. Album

artwork has always been of high importance in progressive rock and it seems Bellas has

followed this tradition, whether it was intentional or not is hard to say. The artwork is very

abstract but it also appears perfectly symmetrical. The outer regions are quite bare but the

centre is dense and solid. I believe this provides the perfect graphic score for the album; at

its heart it is solid, progressive and musically understandable, but some of the sections

extend into the outer boundaries of music to rare and perhaps previously unexplored

48

http://www.georgebellas.com/MainSite/Pages/PressRelease.html (accessed: 07/05/2012)

38

ground. It also suggests that as one gets drawn into the core of the music one will find the

future. Most of the lines and drawings seem to overlap with one another which, again,

suggest common ground; suggests they are linked. Perhaps each line represents a section

or musical idea, most of them linked and cyclical but several of them more angular and

nonconforming.

Issues of authenticity, as usual when discussing George Bellas, are very evident within Step

Into the Future, particularly within the story of how the music came to be composed.

During the six weeks that the album was composed George maintained what is best described as a creative writing frenzy. Every day that passed within that six week period no less than several pages of music were written. He would wake up many times from sleeping with modernistic new ideas that he wanted to incorporate. And as per George's usual workflow, everything was composed using standard music notation before ever playing a note on an instrument. Fresh new scales and unique chords were written using countless permutations of interval sets, which formed the basis of the melodic and harmonic content. All the eccentric rhythms on the album, of which include poly-meters, poly-rhythms and odd meters, were also written specifically just for the album. There are quite a few sections were the drums are in one time signature, the bass in another, and other instruments within their own meter, which created a real mind melting experience. At the onset it was not George's intention to write a 76 minute song, but as the writing process continued and the song grew, George later realized that what he had growing was the most behemoth piece of music that he had ever written.49

In this statement, taken from Georges official website, there are many interesting points to

be analysed. The opening line conjures imagery of a man possessed by music, a composer

in the true sense of the word, with nothing but music in his head scrawling down ideas

using a feather pen and papyrus paper, not unlike the famous portrait of Beethoven.(App. 4)

This imagery ties in with the idea of authenticity; the man is possessed by music, it is not he

controlling the pen but the pen controlling him. He would wake up many times from

sleeping with modernistic new ideas that he wanted to incorporate is another interesting,

and quite often used, line. This invokes ideas of dreaming, the subconscious and the

49

http://www.georgebellas.com/MainSite/Pages/PressRelease.html (accessed: 07/05/2012)

39

mystical which all tie in with romantic ideology and ways of thinking. Whether or not the

statement is true is irrelevant here, it is the fact it was included which is interesting as it

further ties in with the idea of authenticity and the composer with only music on his mind;

he even dreams music, remembers it, and then notates it down. everything was

composed using standard music notation before ever playing a note on an instrument. This

issue was discussed in the earlier section on Authenticity but it is certainly worth reiterating

that the practice of using standard notation to compose music is seen as an authentic way

of composing and that in order to do so one must be a highly skilled and accomplished

musician. George, or whoever writes the content for his website, also makes a point of

stating the techniques used to compose the album; poly-rhythms, poly-meters, odd-meters

and Interval Sets, Twelve-Tone Serialism, Quartal Harmony, Quintal Harmony,

Polychords,50 which is assuming reader / listener knowledge in the subject of music and

music theory. Again, this is a way of encouraging ascription of authenticity; making listeners

believe that these are unordinary, advanced techniques that can only be used by an

accomplished or authentic composer. Finally is the last sentence of the quoted paragraph:

it was not George's intention to write a 76 minute song, but as the writing process

continued and the song grew, George later realized that what he had growing was the most

behemoth piece of music that he had ever written, another interesting use of language to

insinuate that this composition is organic, a term often used by the analysts and

composers of romantic period music. It ties in with the idea of the pen controlling the

composer, the music extending and developing itself naturally and organically and the

composer being powerless to prevent it.

50 http://www.georgebellas.com/MainSite/Pages/PressRelease.html (accessed: 07/05/2012)

40

Interesting statements like these litter Georges website and inadvertently he is becoming a

prime exemplifier of everything that is wrong with, or the issues that surround,

progressive music. This is not to suggest that Bellas is a clich or an unauthentic composer,

quite the contrary; I happen to be a big fan, but it is just to highlight how analysts and

scholars may use Bellas and his music as a way of proving the problems and issues that

have surrounded, and will continue to surround, progressive music.

Another of the regular discourses surrounding George Bellas is that of his virtuosity and the

problems that come with it. The internet is littered with comments stating that Bellas, and

others like him, rely too heavily on technique and virtuosity and choose simply to show-off

in their music instead of attempting to connect with their listeners or narrate them a story.

It would be impossible to argue that Bellass music does not rely on virtuosity, it certainly

does rely on advanced playing and composing skills, but it is how the virtuosity is used that I

believe sets him apart from many other virtuosos. Even at top speed Bellass lines are rarely

unmusical and are usually cleverly constructed ideas that rely heavily on romanticism and

chromaticism and they are usually flowing and lyrical and quite original for a guitar player;

he does not rely on scale shapes as such. His use of unorthodox time signatures is well

documented but often there are patterns and systems in place that the majority of analysts

fail to hear or recognise. George is a big fan of mathematics so it is no surprise that his

approach to music can be mathematical or systematic. Here is an example of a

mathematical approach to composing which occurs at 1:04 into Step Into the Future.51

51

The score was taken from the official website of George Bellas: http://www.georgebellas.com/MainSite/Transcriptions (accessed: 07/05/2012)

41

Although not a particularly difficult concept it is an interesting one. George has created a

simple pattern using numbers in order to achieve a certain musical effect. With each

passing bar the time signature is reduced by two beats of sixteen until the last bar in the

sequence, which is 1/16. George does this a few times in a row to achieve what he states as

giving the effect of the music accelerating.52 He then reverses this idea, extending the bars

instead of shortening them, to provide the reverse effect of the music decelerating but with

the melody staying at the same pace. His music is full of simple mathematical ideas like this

one that provide interesting new ways of approaching composition. Bellas will certainly

keep experimenting and will continue to push the envelope of what is acceptable, and what

is, and isnt, possible despite whatever the critics may say.

Conclusion

Both Art of Life and Step Into the Future are considered progressive music, with their roots

very much in the progressive rock tradition, yet both are entirely different. The issues

outlined in the second section of this essay, virtuosity, authenticity and seriousness, are all

very evident in both of these compositions but are on display in different ways. The

virtuosity and excesses of George Bellass guitar technique represent an overt or obvious

52

http://www.georgebellas.com/MainSite/Transcriptions (accessed: 07/05/2012)

42

display of virtuosity which is mirrored by the lengthy piano solo in X Japans Art of Life. Both

pieces of music are very serious, both in concept and in sound worlds, and rely heavily on

the history and traditions of Western or European art music. Both pieces also have issues of

authenticity surrounding them; Bellas is more upfront about his search for authenticity

whereas X Japan rely more on their music to present itself as authentic. Both albums also

follow on the tradition of the whole package being important; the album artwork can be

seen as graphic scores; Bellass cover work representing mainly the music and X Japans

cover representing primarily the theme or story of the music.

Throughout the course of this essay, from initial research through to the completion of the

written document, I have unearthed some truths that put to shame some of the

stereotypes and generalisations that have been embedded in progressive rocks history. I

have concluded that, although progressive rock is full of issues, it is not necessarily more

problematic than many other genres. It has issues surrounding over-use of virtuosity, and

the search for authenticity and seriousness can be particularly detrimental to the overall

appearance and understanding of progressive rock, but I like to think of these as more

excesses of individual character than definitions of the genre as a whole. Virtuosity can be

used in a tasteful, appropriate and, sometimes, secretive way and the search for

authenticity I believe does not overshadow the genre as a whole.

The willingness to experiment, to break rules and to seek to innovate appears engrained in

our very humanity and for this reason one can safely assume that progressive and

experimental forms of music will always form part of an important and ever-expanding

subculture. It will continue, much like the Universe around us, to balloon outwards,

breaking into various sub-genres and spin-offs, individual microcosms in the vast universe

43

of progressive musical tendencies. Unfortunately, unlike our Universe, the history of

progressive music cannot be traced back to a singularity, to a single event that sparked the

evolution and development of progressive music. It is instead made up of many individual

elements, components and influences that have fused and evolved over time.

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Appendix

1. The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band Album Cover

2. X Japan Art of Life Album Cover

45

3. George Bellas Step Into the Future Album Cover

4. Portrait of Beethoven painted by Joseph Karl Stieler in 1820

46

Bibliography

Books

Holm-Hudson, Kevin, Progressive Rock Reconsidered (New York & London: Routledge, 2002)

Moore, Allan F., Rock: The Primary Text: Developing a Musicology of Rock 2nd Edition

(England: Ashgate Publishing ltd., 2007)

Romano, Will, Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock (USA:

Backbeat Books, 2010)

Smith, Bradley, The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music (Ne