What Makes for a Great Prog-Rock Song?

 Posted by
Jan 052010
 


What makes for a great prog-rock song? It’s too easy to answer this question by saying something like, “I don’t know, man, whatever sounds good to me…” At Rock Town Hall we’ve moved way past such defeatist responses. We gather here to make sense of things, or at least to communicate. As part of our 2010 mission to enriching the discourse of rock, I suggest we tackle this difficult question. I’m pretty certain that we can determine the components that go into making a great prog-rock song!

Some of the components are probably obvious, but to what degree do the following factors play into this most-difficult form of rock composition?

  • Chops
  • Ambition
  • Wizardry
  • Wardrobe
  • Movements
  • Song length
  • Key changes
  • Instrumentation
  • Classical training
  • Unusual (and multiple) time signatures

Have I missed anything? Does tunefulness count for anything? Can sexuality play any role in prog-rock compositions? Please discuss, using specific examples.

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What Is the Musical Foundation of Classic Pink Floyd?

 Posted by
Dec 182008
 


What is the musical foundation of Classic (ie, Roger Waters-led) Pink Floyd?

Last week I heard “Run Like Hell” on the radio for the first time in years. I always liked that song a little bit, at least parts of it. At the same time, it’s always been one of many Pink Floyd songs that make me nauseous. I think the nausea I’ve experienced in songs like this one and “Have a Cigar” have something to do with the heavy use of delay and Waters’ knack for coming up with the least-pleasant melodies in rock. But the nausea-inducing qualities of Pink Floyd were not at the front of my mind while this song played.
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Musicians Outside the Blues/R&B/Jazz/Country Traditions Who Should Have a Greater Influence on Rock ‘n Roll

 Posted by
Dec 032008
 


We ran a poll recently that asked “What musician is cited most frequently among rock nerds based on their relation to a famous band long before anyone has heard said musician’s own music?” The most frequent response was La Monte Young, the minimalist composer under whom John Cale studied and who presumably was a great influence on the music of the Velvet Underground. Young is a good example of what I’m seeking from you: Musicians outside the blues, R&B, jazz, and country (ie, North American) musical traditions who you would like to see have a greater influence on rock ‘n roll.

Be creative or call for greater influence by a previously cited influence, such as Pete Townshend’s “Baba O’Riley” influence, Terry Riley. How do you hear these non-North American sounds fitting into your rock ‘n roll? Paul Simon’s dipped outside the North American well with success. Prog-rockers have dipped into the European tradition with varying degrees of success. I know some of you listen to non-Western artists. Have you ever wished more of a particular artist’s sound could be worked into rock ‘n roll?

I look forward to your visionary comments.

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Under Exposure:
Daryl Hall’s Sacred Songs:
Give Me MOR

 Posted by
Aug 302008
 

Preface

My first exposure to Robert Fripp was via Eno which quickly led to a love affair with King Crimson’s Discipline.

KC in turn led to exposure of Exposure his first proper solo album (his two previous releases were credited to Fripp & Eno).

Chris Stein directed this 1979 promo.

The UK music mag, WIRE said that Exposure is

the Sergeant Pepper of avant punk.

That is certainly debatable but it would for sure be a part of that debate. (In fact it is. See the Avant Punk nomination thread below.)

Exposure is chock full o’ the who’s-who of the late ’70s intellectual, stool-sitting, headless guitar and tapeloop set; Barry Andrews, Phil Collins, Eno, Peter Gabriel, Tony Levin and Daryl Hall. Yes, that Daryl Hall.

SIDEBAR: Then current Fripp girlfriend, Joanna Walton, wrote most of the lyrics. Joanna died in 1993 as a passenger of Pan Am Flight 103.
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The Untouchables, Starring Peter Gabriel

 Posted by
Mar 202008
 


What is it about Peter Gabriel that’s made him an untouchable among critics and rock nerds? Beside the “Sledgehammer” single/video, which rock nerds feel free to dismiss and mock, the guy seems to have been given a free ride despite having been one of the most over-the-top of tuneless prog-rockers and a long-time enabler of players of geeky instruments, like the Chapman Stick, headless guitars, and hi-tech synths that I can’t understand enough to fully describe and then mock.

For some understandable reasons, Peter Gabriel is thought of as having a higher degree of integrity and relevancy than his prog-rock contemporaries – and even moreso than most of his more readily embraced “Art Rock” contemporaries (I trust you understand these fine lines). In fact, Salon termed it “weirdly arty integrity.” Understandably, this shields him from the slings and arrows so freely directed at former bandmates and members of other prog ensembles. Along with the prog-transcendent Robert Fripp, he’s reached out to younger, non-prog artists for collaborations on his albums, such as Paul Weller, at the time still a member of the decidedly un-prog The Jam, and Kate Bush. He’s done the charity/world music scene as well as anyone, some cool soundtrack work, and other deeds befitting a musician of David Byrne‘s rock-crit stature, but even Byrne gets beat up now and then.

Here’s a sampling of some of the worst things I’ve seen critics say about Peter Gabriel:
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They Don’t Make ’em Like That Anymore: King Crimson, 1973

 Posted by
Jan 032008
 

Not everything old and outdated is worth revisiting – and even some things old and outdated are worth admiring, if not bringing back. There’s much I admire in the following King Crimson performance from 1973.

Let’s start with John Wetton’s Look. His hair and sideburns are perfect! Why can’t someone in a critically acclaimed band I’m supposed to love, like Wilco or White Stripes have hair like that? I also dig his floppy jacket and the excusable fashion faux pas of wearing his own band’s t-shirt onstage. Someone had to be the frontman for this nearly amelodic, seemingly asexual collective. Wetton lays it on the line.

Bill Bruford‘s sporting some good ‘burns himself, although they’re not quite matched. The right sideburn seems to be coming out further and it not as thick. That’s OK. As you’ll see toward the end of this clip, it’s not a tank top he’s wearing but some kind of stylized overall/jumpsuit. I guess lots of drummers don’t bother dressing up because they don’t get to jump off their throne and bang a rack of gongs.
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