Trollheart's Journey through Prog Rock history

All that said, there's no question that it was albums like Piper at the Gates of Dawn and this one that got Floyd originally noticed, and so they should not, cannot and will not be pushed into the dark recesses of the history of prog rock; I will not pretend they don't exist and I won't look down my nose at them, but neither to me really represent the Floyd I grew up on and came to love. At the time of their second album though, the association with Barrett was grinding to a juddering and uneasy halt, and Dave Gilmour was brought in initially to help out, for those times when Barrett didn't feel like or couldn't contribute, whether in the studio or onstage. He worked out so well that before the album was even completed Gilmour was already seen as the fourth member of what was technically a quintet at the time, and Barrett and Pink Floyd soon parted ways. Though they wrote tributes to him on later albums, and he arrived at the studio once to watch them play (so completely unrecognisable that the band members took some time to realise it was him) Barrett was never again involved in Floyd and though he attempted a solo career it floundered, after which he basically retired from music. Floyd, of course, would go from strength to strength, achieving world domination status, but always touched by the inner sadness that their friend could not share it with them, and be part of it.

Album title: A Saucerful of Secrets

Artiste: Pink Floyd

Nationality: British

Label: EMI

Year: 1968

Grade: A

Previous Experience of this Artiste: See entry on Piper at the Gates of Dawn

The Trollheart Factor: 7

Landmark value: Although not the sort of Floyd I was used to, this album did feature Gilmour for the first time, led to the departure of Barrett and set the stage for the proper coming of Pink Floyd.

Tracklisting: Let there be more light/ Remember a day/ Set the controls for the heart of the sun/ Corporal Clegg/ A saucerful of secrets (i)Something else (ii) Syncopated pandemonium (iii) Storm signal (iv) Celestial voices (iv)

Comments: It's kind of like something out of Vangelis's playbook as we start off, with a racing, pulsing synth and bass running things, a sound like a sitar occasionally coming through though I doubt they used one at this point, then it breaks down into what would later become a fairly recognised Floyd melody before the vocals from Roger Waters start. My first thought is that this is a lot more what I would call progressive rock than the previous, debut album, and this may be reflected in the fact that Waters writes or co-writes every track here bar two, one being the closer. There's little of the folk/hippies aspect of Piper to this, so far, that album having been largely led I assume by Barrett and the way he wanted the band to go.

Good interplay between the guitar and keys here, though in fairness as both Gilmour and Barrett played on the album I can't say who it is on the frets. “Remember a day” has a timeless, spacey feel to it with some fine piano work from Wright. The vocal is very sparse, only a few words all through the whole thing, almost making of it an instrumental, then I and everyone else know the superb “Set the controls for the heart of the sun”, a song which would go on to be included in their stage set for years, even decades to come, and which really put them in the frame as a space-rock band. With almost Ray Manzarekesque keys sort of low in the background, the vocals also hushed, the whole thing giving a sense of dark, gripping tension, danger and a feel of adventure about it.

“Corporal Clegg” then is the first really out-and-out rock track, sort of sounds like Beatles/Kinks. Not crazy about it, but it does highlight what would go on to become recognisable as the famous Floyd vocal harmonies that would surface on albums from Dark Side onwards. I guess it's fun, I just don't dig it as much as the other tracks I've heard so far. Then we're into the three-part suite that makes up the title track. Again, it's spacey, a bit unnerving in ways and very psychedelic. Could sort of see it having been the theme to a horror movie maybe. Probably gets a little improvisational for me: I can see this being repeated on the side-long “Echoes” on Meddle. I wasn't crazy about a lot of that. Much of this is discordant piano notes and weird synth noises; not really for me. It's a bit long too, at nearly twelve minutes. Actually, the end section is really good --- “Celestial voices”?

“See saw”, the only track written by Rick Wright, is really nice, has a sense of seventies ELO about it. Yes, I know that should be the other way around. Really like this. Nice gentle ballad which, actually now I think about it, really reminds of the Alan Parsons Project. Shut up. The only Barrett song then is the closer, “Jugband blues”, which I expected not to like and don't: it's more of the psych/hippy sh*t I didn't enjoy on much of Piper.

Favourite track(s): Let there be more light, Remember a day, Set the controls for the heart of the sun, Seesaw

Least favourite track(s): A saucerful of secrets, Jugband blues

Overall impression: A far better album than Piper, one that points the way towards the direction Floyd were going in and certainly an album more deserving of the term “progressive rock” than its predecessor.

Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

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Nevertheless, many artistes prominent in the subgenre have stated him as an influence, and I guess it must be accepted that he was part of the push towards a more experimental, loose and improvisational attitude towards music, turning away from the basic rock and roll of the late fifties/early sixties and incorporating elements of jazz, blues, soul and the emerging psychedelia into compositions. The title of this blog is I know what I like, and I know what I don't, but in fairness I can't just listen to what I like here. This is the history of progressive rock, and there will undoubtedly be bands and artistes in there that I don't care for, but who will have to be reviewed and spoken of anyway. Guess "the Big Z" is one of those. Let's get this over with then.

Released as, as mentioned above, a kind of anti-Sgt Peppers, The Mothers' second album featured a lot of instrumental music which appeared on Zappa's solo effort, Lumpy Gravy, which I had originally intended to cover but then backed out of (chicken gravy?), and both are seen as part of a trilogy, completed by Cruising with Ruben and the Jets, released at the end of the year, all to be tied together under the banner title of No Commercial Potential. Indeed.

Album title: We're only in it for the money

Artiste: The Mothers of Invention

Nationality: American

Label: Verve

Year: 1968

Grade: C

Previous Experience of this Artiste: Freak Out!

The Trollheart Factor: 1

Landmark value: Seen to be striking a blow against what was becoming to be seen as the overcommercialisation of music, and specifically against The Beatles, it's seen as a landmark album. I'll reserve judgement until I've heard it.

Tracklisting: Are you hung up?/ Who needs the Peace Corps?/ Concentration Moon/ Mom and dad/ Telephone conversation/ Bow tie daddy/ Harry, you're a beast/ What's the ugliest part of your body?/ Absolutely free/ Flower punk/ Hot poop/ Nasal retentive calliope music/ Let's make the water turn black/ The idiot b*****d son/ Lonely little girl/ Take your clothes off when you dance/ What's the ugliest part of your body? (Reprise)/ Mother people/ The chrome plated megaphone of destiny

Comments: Okay, so the usual spoken-word nonsense I've come to associate Zappa and to a lesser extent Beefheart with gets us under way, not exactly helping my attempts to be unbiased towards this album. At least there's music for the second track, and you can certainly see where they're sl*g.ing off the Fab Four here. Hey you know it's not bad. Like the humour: ”I will love everybody/ I will love the police/ As they're kicking the sh*t out of me.” “Concentration moon” is decent too, as is “Mom and dad”. This is a lot more, um, musical than I had expected, I must say! “Telephone conversation” is exactly what it says on the tin, which does not surprise me. Seems to be a 911 call though, which is interesting. “Bow tie daddy” is like a twenties song, but I actually like it. Mind you, it's only seconds long.

There's a lovely classical piano intro to “Harry, you're a beast”, and it's a good enough track to be fair. I know they're kind of sl*g.ing off the Beatles and psychedelic pop here, so maybe that's why it sounds so, ah, palatable to me? But either way, it's turning out to me a far more enjoyable experience than I expected. “Flower punk” is funny, ripping off “Hey Joe”, then it's like Vangelis's Beauborg (huh? Educate yourself man!) for “Nasal retentive calliope music” - just weird to the max. Most of the album though is (dare I say it) listenable and decent music. Colour me surprised.

Favourite track(s): (Did not expect to be filling this in at all but as it happens...) Who needs the Peace Corps, Concentration moon, Mom and dad, Harry, you're a beast, Let's make the water turn black, Flower punk, Lonely girl, The idiot b*****d son, Take your clothes off when you dance

Least favourite track(s): (And this is a lot less populated than I expected it to be...) Hot poop, Nasal retentive calliope music, Mother people, The chrome plated megaphone of destiny

Overall impression: A lot of strange sounds but apart from that and the odd backward-masking effect, not at all bad really. I know: I'm surprised too!

Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

Final Rating:

Put another way,  the seeds that had been sown were beginning to grow,  but would still need a whole lot of sunshine before they could bear any fruit. Once they did, though, everyone would want a taste! Here then are some of the important bands that got together this year.

Note: as this gets a little closer to the sort of prog rock I’m familiar with, I’m introducing a new category, which with typical self-effacement and humility I’m calling “The Trollheart Factor”. This is an indication of how well, if at all, I know and am familiar with the artiste in question, and how qualified I am therefore to speak about them. I’ll also add this to album reviews, as even though I may know some artistes well, there may be albums of theirs I’m not that well versed in.

Further note: since I’ve a pain in my arse writing the word “incarnation” all the time, I’m in future going to indicate each time the band reformed with a Roman numeral (bein’ a bit of a pretentious git), so the original lineup will be (i), a reformed one (ii), the next (iii) and so on, put after the relevant years.

Third (final?) note: Although many of these albums/bands will be dealt with, there's no guarantee I will get to feature each and every one, so bear with me as you join me on my travels.

Amon Düül II (1968 – )

Nationality: German

Original lineup: Chris Karrer, Dieter Serfas, Falk Rogner, John Weinzierl and Renate Knaup

First relevant album: Phallus Dei

Impact: 6

The Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked to:

Progenitors of what would become known as Krautrock, Amon Düül II grew up out of a hippy commune in Germany, where the music really originally came second to paying the bills to keep the camp open. Apparently in the beginning they worked really hard - ”The band played almost every day” according to Wiemzierl. “We played universities, academies, underground clubs, and every hall with a power socket and an audience.” No X-Factor sudden fame then!

Art Zoyd (1968 - )

Nationality: French

Original lineup: Gerard Hourbette

First relevant album: Symphonie pour le jour où brûleront les cités, 1976

Impact: ?

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with:

French avant-garde, free jazz and experimental band that seems to have been under the direction of one man, the abovenamed Gerard Hourbette. Part of the Rock In Opposition movement.

Brainbox (1969-1972, 2004 - )

Nationality: Dutch

Original lineup: Jan Akkerman, Pierre van der Linden, Kazimir Lux

First relevant album: Brainbox, 1969

Impact: 4

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with: Focus

Most famous as the launching board for Focus, Brainbox released three albums(including, weirdly, a “Best of” after just one album!) before they split in 1972. They reunited in 2004 and have since released another two albums plus a live one, the last being put out in 2011.

Can (1968 - 1979, (i)1986 - 1989 (ii))

Nationality: German

Original lineup: Michael Karoli (RIP), Jaki Lebezeit, Irmin Schmidt, Holger Czukay, David C. Johnson, Malcolm Mooney

First relevant album: Monster Movie, 1969

Impact: 9

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with:

Another band instrumental in the Krautrock era, Can are one of the most well-remembered and artistes from Joy Division and The Fall to Bowie and Talking Heads cite them as an influence on their music, with Brian Eno composing a short movie in tribute to them. Although they disbanded in 1972 they reunited fourteen years later to record one more album. There were sporadic other appearances by them over the years, but since these usually concerned recording a track or a live performance I’m not counting them. They remain however a huge influence right across the music world, from jazz to avant-garde to electronica and of course prog rock.

Caravan (1968 - 1978 (i) 1980 - 1985 (ii) 1990 -1992 (iii) 1995 - (iv))

Nationality: British

Original lineup: David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye  Hastings, Richard Coughlan (RIP)

First relevant album: Caravan, 1968

Impact: 8

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with: Soft Machine, The Wilde Flowers

One of the premier bands in what would become known as the Canterbury Scene, Caravan were not a commercially successful band, but then, a large percentage of prog rock bands can say the same thing, and the real success lies in the legacy they leave behind and the bands they influenced.

Deep Purple (1968 - 1975)

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Rod Evans, Nick Simper, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore

First relevant album: Shades of Deep Purple, 1968 (but really Deep Purple in Rock, 1970)

Impact: 3

The  Trollheart Factor: 5

Linked with: Rainbow, Whitesnake, Ian Gillan Band, Roundabout

What? You no doubt say as you read the brackets in disbelief: Purple lasted only till 1976? Idiot! They were around for a whole lot longer than that! They're still around now! Well, yes, but as they're primarily known as a heavy rock/heavy metal band, I'm basing the activity span on the years they were playing prog rock, which ended in 1974 with Stormbringer, though there is something of a case for Come Taste the Band, released in 1975. Feel free to debate it with me, but let me reiterate before you do that I don’t really want to get bogged down too much exploring or talking about bands who were more or less just on the fringes of the progressive rock scene and who made their name in other spheres, and this certainly applies to them. But they began as prog rock and it might (might, depending on how many albums were released in this year) be interesting to see the direction they had originally been heading in. So I think I'm justified in only recording their active years above as the times when they played what could be termed progressive rather than hard rock.

Henry Cow (1968 - 1978)

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Tim Hodgkinson, Fred Frith, Lindsay Cooper, Chris Cutler

First relevant album: Legend, 1973

Impact: ?

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with:

One of the few British RIO bands, Henry Cow seemed determined to stay out of the mainstream, even of progressive rock, and they seemed to compose their music by committee, having actual meetings where they thrashed out the ideas and decided which ones to use and which to discard. Their music has been described as inaccessible, overcomplicated and brilliantly innovative.

King Crimson (1968 - 1974 (i) 1981-1984 (ii) 1994 - 2004 (iii) 2007 - 2008 (iv) 203 - (v))

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Robert Fripp, Peter Sinfield, Greg Lake, Ian MacDonald

First relevant album: In the Court of the Crimson King, 1969

Impact: 10

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with: A host of acts, including but not limited to 21st Century Schizoid Band, ProjeKCts, UK, Giles, Giles and Fripp, Crimson Jazz Trio and Porcupine Tree

One of the true giants of the progressive rock scene, King Crimson bestrode the movement like a colossus. Or so I’m told. Personally, I’ve never heard anything by them, and while this may be reason in some people’s minds to nail me living to a Hammond, I readily admitted when I began this journey that there were prog rock bands, many of them considered essential to the genre, whom I had not heard, and Crimson are one of them. Needless to say, I’ll be redressing that here. Driven by the genius and some would say tyranny of founder Robert Fripp, King Crimson shied from the pop song, or melodies too easy to play, and they certainly did not seem to court (sorry) chart success. Yet they have remained both one of the most influential bands not only in progressive rock but in music as a whole, and continue to confound their critics, still rocking after over forty-five years.

Rush (1968 - )

Nationality: Canadian

Original lineup: Geddy Lee, Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson

First relevant album: Fly by Night, 1975

Impact: 9

The  Trollheart Factor: 7

Linked with:

Beginning life as a blues rock band with their debut album, Rush soon began incorporating fantasy lyrics and themes into their music with the release of their second album, and quickly identified with the progressive rock crowd. One of the first, if not the first, progressive rock bands to come out of Canada, they have remained with pretty much the same lineup since 1974, always a power trio, and singer Geddy Lee has become famous for his high-pitched, often falsetto vocals. Rush released some of the most seminal prog rock albums of the seventies, including 2112, Caress of Steel, A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres.

The United States of America (1967 - 1968)

Nationality: American

Original lineup:  Joseph Byrd, Dorothy Moskowitz, Gordon Marron, Rand Forbes, Crai Woodson, Ed Bogas

First relevant album: The United States of America, 1968

Impact: ?

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with:

These poor guys split after recording only one album. Despite being the only band at the time I know of (as if that means anything!) to use instruments like calliope, harpsichord, fretless bass and electric violin, and not have any guitars at all, tensions within the band led to their disbanding a year after they got together. Their single album has however gone down in the annals of the history of prog rock, psychedelic music and avant-garde rock, it says here.

Yes (1968 - 1981 (i) 1984 - 2004 (ii) 2008 - (iii)

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Jon Anderson, Chris Squires, Peter Banks, Tony Kaye, Bill Bruford

First relevant album: Yes, 1969

Impact: 10

The  Trollheart Factor: 6

Linked with: The Buggles, The Syn, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Asia

Another giant of the genre, Yes built their appeal and their fame on intricate keyboard passages, long, multi-part songs, and the soaring soprano voice of Jon Anderson. Some of their songs took up one full side of an album (Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans) and as a result, though hugely popular in the seventies they became identified as one of the bands against whom the punk rock backlash hit out, calling music such as they played pompous, overblown, and irrelevant. Well, they probably called it pretentious sh*te, but we’re not going to say that here.

The band he started out in, more or less, is the feature of our next article. With a name that typically sounded acceptable and normal, but actually referred to drug-taking, The Nice were big on the scene from 1967 to about 1970, and in that time they popularised the idea of marrying jazz, classical and other influences into their music. They would also be feted as the first real supergroup, although for me the term has a different meaning: you have to have been in a big, successful band and then joined others who have done the same, in the way Asia, Box of Frogs and The Travelling Wilburys did. But that’s just my opinion.

With arrogance that would become one of his worse traits, Emerson made sure his name was first when the band released their debut album, and it was his somewhat dictatorial approach to his bandmates and his desire for more and more of the spotlight that would eventually lead to their breaking up in 1971. Before that though, they released four major albums, one of which is said to have been one of the cornerstones of the progressive rock movement.

Album title: The thoughts of Emerlist Davjack

Artiste: The Nice

Nationality: British

Label: Immediate

Year: 1967

Grade: A

Previous Experience of this Artiste: Zero; I saw them playing “America” live on some prog history show, but that’s about it.

Landmark value: Bringing together both the idea of interpreting classical music for a new generation and pushing the keyboard towards the front of the band, whereas before it has been more of a backup instrument, The Nice certainly laid many of the foundations for what would become prog rock, and of course Emerson went on to found ELP, one of the biggest and most successful prog rock bands in history, and ironically, one against whom the backlash of punk rock was aimed and which spelled, for a while, the end of the subgenre.

Track Listing: Flower king of flies/ The thoughts of Emerlist Davjack/ Bonny K/ Rondo/ War and Peace/ Tantalising Maggie/ Dawn/ The cry of Eugene

Comments: A brief rant at Spotify, though I probably shouldn’t; they provide me with so much music I would otherwise have to pay for. But still: they have The Nice on their books but not this, supposedly their most important album! Why? I had to go Groovesharkin’ to find it. But to the album: there’s a lot of psychedelic rock here, decent enough song to open, and you can certainly hear Emerson’s organ (ooer!) taking the lead in just about every song. He does prove he’s a master of it though. The title track has a nice sort of early prog feel about it with some classical mixed in, and I sort of hear early Moody Blues here too. Good marching rhythm, very upbeat, I really like this.

“Bonny K” is more a rock-and-roll track, with the guitar getting in some fine licks and Emerson almost pushed to the background for a little, but he’s back with a bang for “Rondo”, based on Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo a la Turk”, which is pretty damn excellent. The “Tocatta and fugue” extract, almost in the background is tremendous, like the past calling “Don’t forget me!” Must say, I really love this. “War and peace” is another instrumental, this time with a real blues/boogie flair, and again I must admit it’s totally bitchin’. The keyboard arpeggios and runs are amazing.

Not so impressed with “Tantalising Maggie” though; bit kind of folky with elements of rock, doesn’t really work for me. Stupid ending too, with some sort of taped laughter? Yeah, definitely my least favourite so far, almost the only one I don’t like. “Dawn” has a great creeping menace about it, reminds me of later Waits at times, the dark whisper works really well. Like this one too. Gets a little indulgent towards the end, bit freeform; you can see where he was going to go later with ELP. It recovers well though and it’s still a great track. Which leaves us with only one song proper to go. I say proper because although it wasn’t included on the original release, how could I not mention their rendition of Bernstein’s “America” from West Side Story?

But before that we have “The cry of Eugene”, with a Beatles-like psychedelia and some really nice violin it sounds like, though I see none credited. Can’t be synthesised as at this point even analogue synthesisers had to make their presence felt. Maybe a guitar effect? Good anyway. It’s not, to be fair, the greatest closer (“Dawn” would have been much better) but it’s a decent song and I have little bad to say about it, or indeed this album.

But then, technically that’s not it is it? Although excluded from the original release as I said, their most famous/infamous song is their pastiche of Leonard Bernstein’s “America”. What Jimi did for “The Star-Spangled Banner” Emerson and co. do here, ripping the piss unmercifully out of the nationalistic anthem for West Side Story, and it’s probably one of the first real protest songs without words. Maybe the only one. Great stuff, and again proof that, despite my dislike for him, Emerson was a true keyboard wizard.

Favourite track(s): The thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, Rondo, War and peace, Dawn

Least favourite track(s): Tantalising Maggie

Overall impression: Brilliant album. Keyboard-heavy of course, and a real pointer to the way prog rock would develop, thrive and grow. I may not like ELP but I certainly love this.

Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

Final Rating:

Like some progressive rock progenitors, Beefheart’s music seldom if ever troubled the charts, though his albums have gone on to appear in “best of” lists all over the spectrum, and he is revered and referred to by many a musician. A volatile, enigmatic personality, it seems Beefheart had something of a dictatorial approach to his work and his band, best reflected in this quote from drummer John French, taken from Wiki:

”If Van Vliet built a house like he wrote music, the methodology would go something like this... The house is sketched on the back of a Denny's placemat in such an odd fashion that when he presents it to the contractor without plans or research, the contractor says "This structure is going to be hard to build, it's going to be tough to make it safe and stable because it is so unique in design." Van Vliet then yells at the contractor and intimidates him into doing the job anyway. The contractor builds the home, figuring out all the intricacies involved in structural integrity himself because whenever he approaches Van Vliet, he finds that he seems completely unable to comprehend technical problems and just yells, "Quit asking me about this stuff and build the damned house."... When the house is finished no one gets paid, and Van Vliet has a housewarming party, invites none of the builders and tells the guests he built the whole thing himself.”

Not the nicest of people then, and certainly when I listened to - well, suffered bravely through - Trout Mask Replica I just got the feeling of someone having a laugh, imagining people listening to this and calling it music. I certainly didn’t enjoy it.  I’m told though by people who know far more about him than I that his debut album was a lot more conventional than Trout Mask Replica, and if so, it’s something I’ll be thankful for, because I do not fancy going though that again. But this was his first release under his band’s name, one of thirteen in total he would release up until his retirement from music in 1982.

Album title: Safe as milk

Artiste: Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band

Nationality: American

Label: Buddah

Year: 1967

Grade: C

Previous Experience of this Artiste: Trout Mask Replica (Shudder!)

Landmark value: As detailed above, Beefheart had a massive influence on progressive rock, but what effect this particular album had is debatable, so I would say not that much really.

Track Listing: Sure ‘nuff ‘n yes I do/ Zig-zag wanderer/ Call on me/ Dropout boogie/ I’m glad/  Electricity/ Yellow brick road/ Abba zaba/ Plastic factory/ Where there’s woman/ Grown so ugly/ Autumn’s child

Comments: It’s pretty straightahead Delta blues here, which is a relief for me but nothing terribly progressive yet. It’s pretty basic up until “I’m glad” which has a nice Motown soul feel to it, then the weirdness that would become Beefheart’s trademark (it says here) starts to leak in as “Electricity” hits and he assumes a sort of moaning, warbling voice which I can see Waits adopted from about 1983 onwards. Country jamboree then on “Yellow brick road”, a few years before Elton snagged it, and I find “Abba zaba” very annoying.

If this is seen as the easy way into Beefheart, then while it doesn’t give me nightmares in the same way TMR did, I really don’t see myself being a fan of him ever. This I just find pretty generic with a side of weirdness tacked on and it’s not for me. I also don’t see anything particularly progressive about it, not here anyway. It’s a good blues album, but there are so many of them I couldn’t say this is any better than any of them, or indeed any worse. The only real interest in this for me is hearing where Waits learned to develop his voice, and I can hear echoes of him in “Where there’s woman”. Other than that I’m just bored.

Favourite track(s): Sure ‘nuff ‘n yes I do, I’m glad, Yellow brick road, Where there’s woman

Least favourite track(s): Electricity, Dropout boogie, Abba zaba

Overall impression: Decent album, no shock to the system like TMR but nothing that special.

Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

Final Rating:

As with The Byrds, the first name that drops from my lips when I speak of progressive rock is not the fab four. Although I’m no fan and have heard little of their music beyond the singles, and I know they did a lot of experimental work later in their career, their contribution to the evolution of progressive rock has always been a bone of contention to me. I can’t deny that, like Pet Sounds - and on which much of this was based - their concept album did open doors that others had not really tried, but really I see it more as a case of the Beatles opening the door but allowing others to rush through, taking the bones of what they had started and putting a lot more flesh on it, to create what was generally accepted by at least 1970 as the format of progressive rock.

As an aside, I must point out that the Wiki entry on this album goes into almost tortuous detail about every song, dissecting it until the various commentators have almost wrung every drop of soul or enjoyment out of it. It’s something like watching a dispassionate autopsy being conducted. I have never quite in my life read so much psychobabble written about music. Like Freud himself once observed, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar guys!

Nevertheless, this album has its place in history, and we would be remiss to exclude it, as it is hailed as one of the first proper concept albums, though to be honest I fail to see any common thread or plot running through it. To me, it’s more a collection of songs, though the idea of it being performed by a fictional band made up by the Beatles is interesting and certainly was, at the time, pretty ground-breaking. But was it progressive rock? Um...

Album title: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Artiste: The Beatles

Nationality: British

Label: Parlophone

Year: 1967

Grade: B

Previous Experience of this Artiste: Who hasn’t heard something by the Beatles??.

Landmark value: Seen as not only very important in the evolution of progressive rock (though I would not call it a prog rock album by any stretch), but also in the identity of albums opposed to singles and one of the first real concept albums, this set the standard for future recording techniques and was one of the new albums that was essentially recorded as a band other than the one the artistes were known for.

Track Listing: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band/ With a little help from my friends/ Lucy in the sky with diamonds/ Getting better/ Fixing a hole/ She’s leaving home/ Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite!, Within you without you, When I’m sixty-four, Lovely Rita, Good morning good morning, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise), A day in the life

Comments: We've all heard this album - or at least, some of it, so I’ll skip the first few tracks which I, and everyone else, knows, and jump to "Getting better", which seems to keep some of the basic idea from "With a little help from my friends", straightahead rock tune really. "Fixing a hole" has more of a twenties feel about it, sort of music-hall idea there, and "She’s leaving home" slows it all down to a moody dirge with some beautiful violin and cello. I’ve heard this of course before, and I like the way it’s seen from both sides, the runaway and the parents, each giving their reaction.

"Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite!" has the sort of melody that would be very much at home on a Tom Waits album, and I guess you can see the influence of this album in his later work, lot of carnival sounds and effects, seems to be an instrumental, then Harrison’s sitar introduces "Within you without you" with some suitably Indian percussion (congas?) and a sort of droning, chanted vocal; I’ve heard part of this melody in a much later Marillion song. It’s the only one with Harrison on lead vocals, and almost the longest on the album: whereas most of the other tracks, bar the closer, are around the 2 or 3 minute mark, this runs for just over five. I think we all know "When I’m sixty-four", which bumps along nicely on tuba and horns, with "Lovely Rita" coming back to the main theme of the title track, bopping along. Interesting that they use the description meter maid, when they were an English band and on this side of the Atlantic we call them all traffic wardens, male or female. Still, I guess “meter maid” rhymes better with “Rita”. Sort of.

I’m not too impressed with "Good morning good morning", bit ordinary, though it has some nice guitar in it. There’s a reprise then of the title track, then if anything is progressive rock on this album - and little is really - I’d have to mark the closer, "A day in the life" as an indicator of the direction the subgenre was going to go over the next few years. I like the way it changes time signatures, tempos and particularly the crescendos that provide the real power behind the song.

Favourite track(s): With a little help from my friends, Lucy in the sky with diamonds, She’s leaving home, Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite!

Least favourite track(s): Good morning good morning

Overall impression: Given that I know so much of this album already, not the biggest surprise, but I’d still have to say the jury is out, as far as I’m concerned, as to how much of a role this album has to play in the genesis (sorry) of Progressive Rock. It’s certainly an important album, but though I can see some of the processes and thoughts here being used in future prog rock albums, I’m not sure I don’t see it as more of  a psychedelic album than a progressive rock one.

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