Progressive Rock Reconsidered

Rating:
Summary: a progressive book of progressive rock
Review: There have been many books on the topic of British progressive rock of the 1970's, and this is easily the worst of the lot. The book underlines every ugly chiche there is about prog rock fans.

Apparently the reason why you should like prog rock is not because of how it makes you feel or how you use it in your life, but rather because a bunch of toffie-nosed academics got together and went through this music in a tediously drawn out technical manner, and they have decided that it is good for you. These writers do all they can to formally wrap the topic in an impenetrable web of music theory babblespeak that acts as if this was classical music, not rock music. There is page after page of in-depth technical analysis and specialized language that will not appeal to most audiences. This is like reading a bunch of term papers intended to impress a music professor.

And it is indeed awful to see a group of politically correct eggheads apologize over and over in their essays for how prog rock is too white, too European, too priviliged, too upper middle class, too male, too elitist, etc. But there is a level of p.c. identity politics nonsense here the likes of which is truly ridiculous. One contributor claims in her essay to give the lesbian perspective on Yes. Apparently music is perceived differently by homosexuals seems to be the message. Another author gives an account of a gay man's reaction to Yes's "Close to the Edge," and even concludes his chapter by stating what kind of man he likes. Ouch!

The authors take the old line that prog rock hit the skids not because of anything it was doing, but rather because evil punk and new wave forced them out. This is the same negative "it-was-all-over-by-the-1980's" thinking that pervades many a music text. Prog rock and punk/new wave did not necessarily share the same audience base(s), so it was not as if suddenly music buyers decided to no longer go for prog rock in favor of punk. Prog rock cannot blame others for its own drawbacks. There were many truly bad front-rank prog rock albums released in the late 1970's and 1980's that hurt the genre more than anything punk rock did. Go out and buy any Gentle Giant album from the 1975-1980 period and you'll see what I mean.

So why one star? Editor Kevin Holm-Hudson contributes the only decently written chapter, looking at the late 1960's U.S. experimental band the United States of America. This chapter is well done, informative, and covers an area of prog rock (a U.S. band, not a U.K. one) that needs and deserves such coverage. If only the books other contributors had risen to this standard. Also, as usual there are profuse notes and bibliography, but no photos.

Avoid this book!

Rating:
Summary: The worst prog music book ever released.
Review: There have been many books on the topic of British progressive rock of the 1970's, and this is easily the worst of the lot. The book underlines every ugly chiche there is about prog rock fans.

Apparently the reason why you should like prog rock is not because of how it makes you feel or how you use it in your life, but rather because a bunch of toffie-nosed academics got together and went through this music in a tediously drawn out technical manner, and they have decided that it is good for you. These writers do all they can to formally wrap the topic in an impenetrable web of music theory babblespeak that acts as if this was classical music, not rock music. There is page after page of in-depth technical analysis and specialized language that will not appeal to most audiences. This is like reading a bunch of term papers intended to impress a music professor.

And it is indeed awful to see a group of politically correct eggheads apologize over and over in their essays for how prog rock is too white, too European, too priviliged, too upper middle class, too male, too elitist, etc. But there is a level of p.c. identity politics nonsense here the likes of which is truly ridiculous. One contributor claims in her essay to give the lesbian perspective on Yes. Apparently music is perceived differently by homosexuals seems to be the message. Another author gives an account of a gay man's reaction to Yes's "Close to the Edge," and even concludes his chapter by stating what kind of man he likes. Ouch!

The authors take the old line that prog rock hit the skids not because of anything it was doing, but rather because evil punk and new wave forced them out. This is the same negative "it-was-all-over-by-the-1980's" thinking that pervades many a music text. Prog rock and punk/new wave did not necessarily share the same audience base(s), so it was not as if suddenly music buyers decided to no longer go for prog rock in favor of punk. Prog rock cannot blame others for its own drawbacks. There were many truly bad front-rank prog rock albums released in the late 1970's and 1980's that hurt the genre more than anything punk rock did. Go out and buy any Gentle Giant album from the 1975-1980 period and you'll see what I mean.

So why one star? Editor Kevin Holm-Hudson contributes the only decently written chapter, looking at the late 1960's U.S. experimental band the United States of America. This chapter is well done, informative, and covers an area of prog rock (a U.S. band, not a U.K. one) that needs and deserves such coverage. If only the books other contributors had risen to this standard. Also, as usual there are profuse notes and bibliography, but no photos.

Avoid this book!

Rating:
Summary: For Academics Mostly, But New Insights Good
Review: You ought to have at least a Master's Degree before you open this book. Highly technical, and written in mostly academic jargon, the essays in this book reflect the current views of progressive rock among people who work in higher education. Some of the essays are a bit of a shock -- not that that's bad - to long time prog fans. The Queer theory version of Close to the Edge is a new perspective, as is the Lesbian view of Jon Anderson's lyrics. I learned new things by reading them, which is the point.

If you have some knowledge of music theory, you might enjoy this book better. Kevin Holm-Hudson's essay on "Trilogy" is quite good, as is long-time academic Rockist Deena Weinstein's decontruction of Roger Water's lyrics. All of the articles are worthwhile, even if takes a while to get through some of the more technical musical discussions. Give yourself some time, and you may come to value you this book.

Rating:
Summary: For Academics Mostly, But New Insights Good
Review: You ought to have at least a Master's Degree before you open this book. Highly technical, and written in mostly academic jargon, the essays in this book reflect the current views of progressive rock among people who work in higher education. Some of the essays are a bit of a shock -- not that that's bad - to long time prog fans. The Queer theory version of Close to the Edge is a new perspective, as is the Lesbian view of Jon Anderson's lyrics. I learned new things by reading them, which is the point.

If you have some knowledge of music theory, you might enjoy this book better. Kevin Holm-Hudson's essay on "Trilogy" is quite good, as is long-time academic Rockist Deena Weinstein's decontruction of Roger Water's lyrics. All of the articles are worthwhile, even if takes a while to get through some of the more technical musical discussions. Give yourself some time, and you may come to value you this book.