Progressive rock is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an emergence of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its "progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing.
Magma is a French progressive rock band founded in Paris in 1969 by self-taught drummer Christian Vander, who claimed as his inspiration a "vision of humanity's spiritual and ecological future" that profoundly disturbed him. The style of progressive rock that Vander developed with Magma is termed "Zeuhl", and has been applied to other bands in France operating in the same period, and to some recent Japanese bands.
The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music and were keyboardist Keith Emerson's first commercially successful band.
Pendragon are an English neo-prog band established in 1978 in Stroud, Gloucestershire as Zeus Pendragon by guitarist and vocalist Nick Barrett. The word Zeus was dropped before the band started recording, as the members decided it was too long to look good on a T-shirt. There were a few personnel changes in the early days, but since 1986 the lineup has remained relatively stable and the band are still active as of 2023.
Oliver Wakeman is an English musician, rock keyboardist and composer, best known as a member of Yes from 2008 to 2011, having filled the role of keyboardist previously held by his father, Rick Wakeman.
Gentle Giant was a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members were multi-instrumentalists. Although not commercially successful, the band did achieve a cult following.
In the Court of the Crimson King is the debut studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson, released on 10 October 1969 by Island Records. The album is one of the earliest and most influential of the progressive rock genre, where the band combined the musical influences that rock music was founded upon with elements of jazz, classical, and symphonic music.
Caravan are an English rock band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings, and Richard Coughlan in 1968. The band have never achieved the great commercial success that was widely predicted for them at the beginning of their career, but are nevertheless considered a key part of the Canterbury scene of progressive rock acts, blending psychedelic rock, jazz, and classical influences to create a distinctive sound.
New Trolls are an Italian progressive rock band, known for their fusion of rock and classical music. In a way not too dissimilar from fellow prog-rock band Yes, their history is filled with line-up changes, spin-off projects and personal struggles between band members.
Lindsay Cooper was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians. She collaborated with a number of musicians, including Chris Cutler and Sally Potter, and co-founded the Feminist Improvising Group. She wrote scores for film and TV and a song cycle Oh Moscow which was performed live around the world in 1987. She also recorded a number of solo albums, including Rags (1980), The Gold Diggers (1983), and Music For Other Occasions (1986).
Steve Walsh is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known for his work as a longtime member of the progressive rock band Kansas. He retired from the band in 2014. He sings lead on four of Kansas' best-known hits: "Carry On Wayward Son", "Dust in the Wind", "Point of Know Return", and "All I Wanted", the last two of which he co-wrote.
Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) is an Italian progressive rock band founded in 1970 which continues to the present day. They were the first Italian group to have success internationally. The group recorded five albums with English lyrics between 1973 and 1977. During this period they entered both the British and American charts. They also had several successful European and American tours, playing at the popular Reading Festival in England and on The Midnight Special, a popular national television program in the United States.
Magenta are a Welsh progressive rock band formed in 1999 by ex-Cyan member Rob Reed. Reed takes his influences from artists such as Renaissance, Genesis, Mike Oldfield, Yes, Eurythmics and Björk.
Stormy Six were an Italian progressive and folk rock band founded in Milan in 1966. They performed and recorded until 1983, mostly as a sextet but occasionally as a quartet, a quintet and a septet. Although their line-up changed considerably over the years, founding member Franco Fabbri remained with the group for its entire duration. In May 1993 they performed at a re-union concert in Milan, which was recorded and released on a CD, Un Concerto (1995).
The Muffins were an American Maryland-based progressive rock/avant-jazz group. They were formed in Washington, DC in the early 1970s and recorded four albums before disbanding in 1981. In 1998 the group reformed and recorded a further five albums and a DVD. The Muffins played at Symphony Space on Broadway in NYC with Marion Brown in 1979, and also performed at a number of festivals, starting with the ZU Manifestival in New York City in 1978, The Villa Celimontana festival in Rome, Italy in 2000, two appearances at Progday in 2001 and 2002, NEARfest in 2005, and the "Rock in Opposition" festival in France in 2009. In 2010, the Muffins headlined at Progday, making a third appearance at this long running festival.
Pausa Records was a record label, active c. 1975–1986, which mainly issued jazz albums.
Eros is the name of the first recording made by the French progressive rock band Dün. The record was self-released as a vinyl LP; a thousand copies were printed and sold by the band at concert. The band failed to find a record label for a further, international distribution. The concept of the album was based on Frank Herbert's novel Dune, which particularly fascinated Geeraerts and Vandenbulcke.
Produttori Associati was an Italian independent record label created in 1970 by Antonio Casetta, when Bluebell Records, Mini Rec, and Belldisc of the Belldisc S.p.A. group, fused. The label was active until 1977.
Gianni Bedori, also known as Johnny Sax, was an Italian jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, flautist and composer.
RanestRane is an Italian neo-prog band from Rome that stages melodic and partly instrumental symphonic prog with fine melody lines as a rock opera.
