I think art rock must be one of those genres that everybody defines a bit differently...the site definition is fairly inclusive (it's probably vague on purpose) but the examples don't fit my idea of 'art rock' (except for Peter Gabriel).

For me, art rock has more of an experimental, even pretentious (in the best possible sense of the word) influence...Gabriel and Reed and Bowie and Eno type of thing. Pop music with artistic approach. Kate Bush, definitely.

As opposed to symphonic, which to me is rock with orchestral elements in the instruments and sometimes in the structure as well. From the Beatles to ELO, but more 'prog' examples would be a number of the Italian bands ("Appena un Poco" is my perfect example) and Kansas, and Floyd at times (things like "Atom Heart Mother", especially).

Sweetnighter wrote: So how do you define art rock, and what are its boundaries? I've always understood art rock to be a sort of sissy prog rock, in a way... groups that aren't entirely prog and were big arena acts at one point. Examples of this include Supertramp, Styx, and Asia. Now, would you consider groups like Boston or Journey to be art rock, or not? And when is a band no longer "art rock" but symphonic or or something else?

Art Rock as I understood it in my youth was the name of prog, since in the mid-70's in Canada , there was ony that name for it! Yes, Genesis , ELP,Supertramp  etc... were Art-rock bands; This might have slipped a bit towards Glam rock for people wanting to include Roxy Music and Queen in it!

I dont like how Transatlantic is defined as art rock by this site

i define art rock as pop prog basically, maybe like pop inspired by prog or something

Aaron

Art Rock is a confusing term because it had several meanings through the years:

When Prog' was young, Art Rock was a synonym for Progressive Rock, both terms were used to describe the same genre.

Art Rock now is described as the simpler form of prog', exactly the limit that divides progressive rock from POP or mainstream, I agree with this definition and bands as Asia, Styx, ELO, Roxy Music or even Queen may be included in this genre.

As Gdub said, Art Rock is wrongly used as a what we call in Perú "a Tailor box" (The tailors usually have a box where they keep the small pieces of fabric that are left after making of a suit, this pieces of fabric are from several colors and sizes), so the bands that are more complex or ambitious than common mainstream but nobody knows how to catalogue are lumped there, despite their style, sound or influence.

About Peter Gabriel, I don't think he's part of Art Rock, because I'm not sure if he's even prog', maybe experimental but he's very close to World Music, despite the genre, his work is amazing.

Iván

Art rock is a silly term - a dumping ground for anything that doesn't quite fit anywhere else.

Don't use it

Just found the following, which coincides with ivan's and seyo's comments:

"Progressive rock and art rock are two almost interchangeable terms describing a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility. The differences between prog-rock and art rock are often slight in practice, but do exist. Prog-rock tends to be more traditionally melodic (even when multi-sectioned compositions replace normal song structures), more literary (poetry or sci-fi/fantasy novels), and more oriented toward classically trained instrumental technique (with the exception of http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:PINKFLOYD - Pink Floyd ). Art rock is more likely to have experimental or avant-garde influences, placing novel sonic texture above prog-rock's symphonic ambitions. Both styles are intrinsically album-based, taking advantage of the format's capacity for longer, more complex compositions and extended instrumental explorations. In fact, many prog bands were fond of crafting concept albums that made unified statements, usually telling an epic story or tackling a grand overarching theme. In addition to pushing rock's technical and compositional boundaries, prog-rock was also arguably the first arena where synthesizers and electronic textures became indispensable parts of a rock ensemble. The earliest rumblings of progressive and art rock could be heard in the poetry of http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:BOBDYLAN - Bob Dylan and conceptually unified albums like http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:THEMOTHERSOFINVENT - the Mothers of Invention 's http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=2:FREAKOUT! - Freak Out! and http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:THEBEATLES - the Beatles ' http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=2:SGT.PEPPER\'SLonELY - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , all of which suggested that rock was more than just teenagers' music and should be taken seriously as an art form. Prog-rock began to emerge out of the British psychedelic scene in 1967, specifically a strain of classical/symphonic rock led by http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:THENICE - the Nice , http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:PROCOLHARUM - Procol Harum , and http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:THEMOODYBLUES - the Moody Blues ( http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=2:DAYSOFFUTUREPASSED - Days of Future Passed ). http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:KINGCRIMSon - King Crimson 's 1969 debut http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=2:INTHECOURTOFTHEC - In the Court of the Crimson King firmly established the concept of progressive rock, and a quirky, eclectic scene was taking shape in Canterbury, led by the jazzy psychedelia of http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:THESOFTMACHINE - the Soft Machine . Prog-rock became a commercial force in the early '70s, with http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:EMERSon,LAKE&PALME - Emerson, Lake & Palmer , http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:YES - Yes , http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:JETHROTULL - Jethro Tull , http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:GENESIS - Genesis , and http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:PINKFLOYD - Pink Floyd leading the way. Meanwhile, a more avant-garde scene (dubbed Kraut-rock) was developing in Germany, and eccentric, unclassifiable bands continued to emerge in the U.K. By the mid-'70s, a backlash was beginning to set in; prog-rock sometimes mistook bombast for majesty, and its far-reaching ambition and concern with artistic legitimacy could make for overblown, pretentious music. Its heyday soon came to an end with the advent of punk, which explicitly repudiated prog's excesses and aimed to return rock & roll to its immediate, visceral roots. Still, prog-rock didn't completely go away. A number of AOR bands used prog ideas in more concise songs; plus, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:PINKFLOYD - Pink Floyd , http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:YES - Yes , and http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:GENESIS - Genesis all had number one singles in the '80s by retooling their approaches. A small cult of neo-prog bands catered to faithful audiences who still liked grandiose concepts and flashy technique; the first was http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:MARILLIon - Marillion , and many more popped up in the late '80s and early '90s."

Good article, Maani - but I would correct "the first was Marillion..." to "the first was Twelfth Night", since "Live At the Target" predates "Script..." by 3 years, and the material leading up to "Fact and Fiction" was written during those 3 years - while (Sil)Marillion were still forming as a band. Marillion were the most prominent, but not first.

...not that it's particularly important...