Rating: 
Summary: Why so angry B.S.?
Review: After having read some of the author's negative reviews of other prog books (so young, so angry, damn that prog music), I felt inclined to review his. Generally speaking, this book is a decent listing of the author's opinion of what is significant progressive music and video. As other reviewers have stated, there are some obvious omissions of bands/artist that most people consider to be progressive "legends." Futhermore, there are numerous inclusions of music that is on the "fringe" of the progressive scene. Many of the included artists would be considered by most prog fans to be new age, ambient or industrial (Throbbing Gristle is a cool name, but are they a progressive rock band?). The author also seems to have a preference for what most people would consider fusion music. Most prog fans are interested in this, but don't prefer it to the traditional symphonic sounds of the big six. My other criticisms of this book are twofold. First, I believe the author underestimates his audience's ability to determine what they like. Some of his accounts of cds sound "preachy" and like he is stating "if you really knew about music you would be listening to this instead of" (Van Der Graaf, Banco, PFM, Hands, Yezda Urfa, etc. etc.).
The other issue I have is that while I like his format of listing "essential" prog cds, I did not find myself discovering very many new cds to add to the collection from reading this. Once again, this may be due to differing ideas as to what prog is. Where this books succeeds is in providing detailed descriptions of a variety of artists and cds. The material the author does cover is thorough (everything from sound quality to album art). Overall, this is a worthy, but flawed, addition to a prog-rock library (even if his definition of what constitutes progressive rock is "creative"). However, you should also include the Macan and Martin books (which Mr. Smith is truly hostile in his review of, I mean, does it really matter if an album came out in November of 70 or February of 71?). I don't know about anybody else, but I just want to read about this stuff and find more music I like. I also find myself questioning Mr. Smith's reviews of newer prog books, since he seems to so negative about all of them, and I frankly enjoyed some of the prior books he thinks were terrible. Ah, but what do I know, I think Gentle Giant is more progressive rock than Liz Story.
Rating: 
Summary: Not excellent, but author is true prog rock nut! Buy it!
Review: I must agree with previous reviewer: a few significan prog rock "monsters" were ignored. However, author says in the book that prog rock is such a vast area that cannot be covered by a single book.
Besides, this book reflects the author's preferences, which I don't share completely.
Anyway, I highly recommend this book as an addition to another books, for instance, Makan's work. You can find here deep reviews of 325 (!) prog rock releases!
Besides, the author demonstrates such a deep knowledge of the subject that I must take my hat off! And, keep in mind the book was written and released before Internet era, so it's hard to belive how hard the author worked!
Rating: 
Summary: Incomplete, Weak Writing
Review: Leaving out Van Der Graaf Generator, Hammill, Gentle Giant, IQ, PFM, Le Orme, Ange and dismissing Marillion as he does is a crime!!Also difficult is the very weak writing. The most overused word in this book is "atypical" - I am sure I can count this word being used at least 500 times, however in every case he misuses the word: it means "unusual, NOT typical" - he uses it always to describe when one recording is similar to another. Kinda brings the writer's intelligence into question!! So why two stars? Well, actually of those albums he recommends for those artists he cares to review, are pretty darn good albums.
Rating:
Summary: How do you catch a rainbow in your hand?
Review: Like every other facet of Progressive music, Smith's book has its ups and downs. And like every other Prog fan, Smith is very opinionated--lauding here, slagging there, completely ignoring elsewhere. So be it. What you get for your money is a fairly extensive discussion of many of the better Progressive albums. I've heard some people dismiss this book as a guided tour through the author's record collection. That overlooks a fairly basic point, though: how in the world do you review an album (or band) you've never heard? Obviously, nobody has ever listened to the entire catalog of progressive music. So it's unrealistic to criticize this or any other publication because it doesn't contain your own pet favorites. A couple of valid downticks, though, are that Smith does tend to be a little too opinionated at times. If you're writing an overview, you need to maintain a very evenhanded tone, and the author veers pretty far away from that when he claims that lyrics are totally irrelevant to progressive music. This is especially annoying in the passages where he complains that a given band sings in a language other than English. That happens more than once, and doesn't do anything at all to dispel the "Ugly American" stereotype; it's very disrespectful of people from other cultures, none of whom should remotely feel obligated to sing in English. (NB to the author: how's your Swedish, Brad?) Otherwise, this is a worthwhile effort. You might not find wholehearted agreement with your humble opinion in these pages, but you will probably learn something, and you almost certainly will add several artists/titles to your "To Get" list.
Rating: 
Summary: A learning experience for me
Review: Many of the reviews I've read of this book say it is perfect for the prog neophyte. I would agree completely with that statement, and I beleive my prog musical intelligence was at the perfect point to enjoy it. I knew a great deal about Genesis, King Crimson, ELP and the like, but I didn't even know that 80% of these artists even existed. Honestly, I hadn't even heard of most of the bands other reviewers are compaining about having been left out of the book, apart from Gentle Giant. It was quite odd for me to read Bradley Smith's reviews of Genesis albums which he, and I suppose most prog fanatics, would consider to be fairly commercial in comparison to other prog titles. It rather made me feel as if Selling England by the Pound was no more prog than the latest Britney Spears cd (not that he truly represented the Genesis cd as such, but you know what I mean). I got precisely what I was looking for out of this book, an insight into artists and bands I knew nothing of before. I have listened for years to "mainstream prog" and now I'd like to expand my horizons. It does seem as if Mr. Smith is particularly enamored with certain artists, like Mike Oldfield whose Tubular Bells, etc gets a full 10 pages. This is not a major downside for me, as I'm certain that if I or any other prog fan were to write a book on this subject, we'd rather write about artists we like. A note aside, if there are any prog fans in the central New Jersey area, there's a great store in Fords called "Vintage Vinyl" that's famous througout the state for its selection. It has a whole section of Progressive Rock, and I found this book on display there. Go there if you happen to wander through the area (Rt. 1 North and Ford Avenue).
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible.
Review: One guy's opinion. Like reading the ramblings of a troll on a mailing list.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible.
Review: One guy's opinion. Like reading the ramblings of a troll on a mailing list.
Rating:
Summary: A work in progress
Review: Smith's guide to progressive rock music is a good start but far from complete. The book ignores the existence of bands he does not like: for this reason Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf Generator and most Continental European, Asian and South American prog is ignored. What is covered -- much of the British symphonic, space rock, experimental -- is done quite well. I believe if Mr. Smith were to expand his coverage in a future edition it would be worth five stars, but as it is it can serve only as a partial guide. Stick with the Macan and Martin books for now.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Primer
Review: The "Billboard Guide To Progressive Music" is perhaps the most valuable book written about music that exists for the sake of art instead of commercialism. Rather than focus on sales histories and chart positions, Bradley Smith delivers in depth reviews about the quality of the artists and albums themselves. The beauty of the book is that, while subjective, it covers a very broad range of music: from the natural soundscapes of Annea Lockwood and Constance Demby to the Jazz Fusion of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Brand X, the classical formalism of Liz Story and Mike Oldfield to the prog-metal of Fire Merchants and Happy Family, The Billboard Guide To Progressive Music covers all the bases and provides the fan of uncompromising music with a true asset. As progressive music is diverse and is rarely categorized as one genre, a book such as this helps to identify the music that fits the potential listener's needs. Personally, I have bought over fifty of my own albums based upon Smith's recommendations. The only shame is that he does not have a website which he could frequently revise. All in all, a fabulous book.
Rating:
Summary: Okay, but unacceptable ommisions
Review: This book is alright, though not great. Smith's writing is certainly up to scratch (he's very opinionated, but why not?). He makes his arguments well, but I agree with a lot of the other people who have written reviews that he should have included Van Der Graaf. They were a major cornerstone of the movement (they'd gained a certain amount of fame before Genesis even!) and are still highly respected (as witnessed by Virgin's forthcoming 4-CD box set w/a 48 pg booklet). I'd like Smith to explain why he left them out.
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