The Music of the Czech Republic??

What is your favorite genre of music?

“What’s so special about the music of the Czech Republic?” he asked.

“No. PROG Rock. Progressive Rock.” And then I’d explain it. Again.

Prog’s been with us since the late 1960s. Some suggest that the Beatles’ “Sergeant Pepper’s” album was the first progressive rock album. Others cite Yes, ELP (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer), Jethro Tull, Genesis, and Pink Floyd as other early prog acts. As I have often said, “I’ve been a prog fan since the beginning—and have the vinyl to prove it.”

Two reasons I like prog are its instrumentation, which borrows more from classical music than the blues traditions of much of rock and roll, and its theatrical nature: Rick Wakeman’s capes, Keith Emerson stabbing his keyboard to sustain a note, Tull frontman Ian Anderson standing on one leg playing the flute. (I saw the latter in concert once after Anderson’s knee surgery; he limped or stayed planted most of the time.)

Prog waned a bit when Punk entered the scene to play a raw, three-chord funereal dirge for the proggers just as a second wave of prog was surging: Marillion, IQ, Arena, et al never had the listenership of the previous founding bands. But prog wasn’t dead and lived on in another wave, with Porcupine Tree, Ayreon, Nightwish, Within Temptation, and a host of others who still tour and draw audiences.

I found myself plunged back into prog after hearing an interview of Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree about their album “The Incident” (2009) on NPR’s All Things Considered. That led to both a listening and buying spree and created a slight addiction for live performances. I have so many T-shirts to prove that.

Phorkyad Acropolis, my Second Life avatar, served as a DJ for many years in Starport Omega, a progressive rock venue. I bought many CDs, with most purchases based on my research reading Prog magazine. I stopped getting it during the pandemic, and still need to read those last four issues I put aside during that time (but still have a complete collection in my storage unit). If you want to know more, check out http://progarchives.com to learn how many sub-genres and bands there are for a genre of music of which most people have no knowledge and recognition.

Your favorite prog band you didn’t know was prog? Let me know, and as always, please like and follow!