Adam Ironside Progressive Rock Issues and Concepts PDF

1
Adam Ironside
[106045743]

Progressive Rock: Issues and Concepts
[18
th
May 2012]

Major Specialist Study Dissertation
[MUSS3013]

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of the BA Music Degree, Newcastle University
2

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
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

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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. Peppers
6
-Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)
To me, the first progressive rock band was the Beatles
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Ian McDonald (King
Crimson, Foreigner)
The Beatles led the way
8
Justin Hayward (Moody Blues)
The Beatles made it more acceptable for music to expand into other areas
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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 come
10
and the album that has encouraged
many rock musicians to think that their music might indeed be art
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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.
Peppers
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and it seems unnecessary to go into great detail here, but it is important to

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7
Ibid., p.4.
8
Ibid., p.5.
9
Ibid., p.10
10
11
Ibid., p.7.
12
Robert 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 movement
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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
band
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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

14
Allan F. Moore, Rock: The Primary Text: Developing a Musicology of Rock [2
nd
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.
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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,
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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,
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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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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.
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The movement stemmed mainly from Sweden with bands such as the Flower
Kingsand Anekdotenoffering nonconformists everywhere an alternative to popular

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music
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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 insane
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) 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
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).
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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 3
rd
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
doom
25
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.
18

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 power
28
), 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 structure
30
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
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)
19

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.
20

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
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
37
Allan F. Moore, Rock: The Primary Text: Developing a Musicology of Rock [2
nd
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 Metal
39
)
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
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.
28

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
30

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)
35

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 date
47
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.
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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

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.
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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
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
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.

44

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
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Holm-Hudson, Kevin, Progressive Rock Reconsidered (New York & London: Routledge, 2002)
Moore, Allan F., Rock: The Primary Text: Developing a Musicology of Rock 2
nd
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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 (New York: Billboard Books, 1997)

Articles
Atton, Chris, Living in the Past?: Value Discourses in Progressive Rock Fanzines, Popular
Music, Vol. 20, No. 1, (January 2001), pp. 29-46
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Harman, R. A., Virtuosity and Music, The Musical Times, Vol. 84, No. 1209, (November
1943), pp. 329-330
Lippman, Edward A., Progressive Temporality in Music, The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 3,
No. 2, (Spring 1984), pp. 121-141
Moore, Allan F., Categorical Conventions in Music Discourse: Style and Genre, Music &
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209-223
Palmer, John R., Yes, Awaken, and the Progressive Rock Style, Popular Music, Vol. 20, No.
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Pieslak, Jonathan, Re-casting Metal: Rhythm and Meter in the Music of Meshuggah, Music
Theory Spectrum, Vol. 29, No. 2, (Fall 2007), pp. 219-245
Walser, Robert, Eruptions: Heavy Metal Appropriations of Classical Virtuosity, Popular
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Whiteley, Sheila, Progressive Rock and Psychedelic Coding in the Work of Jimi Hendrix,
Popular Music, Vol. 9, No. 1, (January 1990), pp. 37-60

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Internet
Abebe, Nitush, The Lost Generation, Pitchfork Media, http://www.pitchforkmedia.com,
p.4. (accessed: 05/04/2012)
Anon, Dust Bowl Ballads, Smithsonian Folkways,
http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=939 (accessed: 08/05/2012)
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48

Discography
Beatles, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, (Parlophone and Capitol, 1967)
Bellas, George, Step Into the Future, (Lion Music, 2009)
X Japan, Art of Life, (Atlantic, 1993)

These three albums were key to my dissertation but I also listened to many, many hours of
music by a wide variety of progressive and non-progressive musicians in order to form my
opinions and shape my dissertation.

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