Prog-Sphere forums

Anyone in the music forums will be only too happy to explain to a beginner just how pivotal the psychedelic movement was for the emergence of progressive rock; this is entirely understandable, given that prog rock was born from the chaos of the psychedelic milieu of Swinging London, blending 'Rock' (capital R and no roll), British beat, jazz, folk, and European classical traditions; to the question of "what is psychedelic, and how did it occur?" many will immediately shout about LSD and San Francisco 1966, i.e., the Summer of Love, or they're just going to praise some albums from the early hippie scene of electrified folk music that is wrongly called "Rock." Some people say that psychedelia was actually a zeitgeist, which is true. Yes, it was a zeitgeist, and it is true that acid was legal and fresh, but from which event did that zeitgeist exactly come about? i.e., who let the genie out of the bottle? Who is to blame for such an important movement not only in music but also in visual arts, literature, films, and fashion? Well, it was in 1965 at an LSD–fueled party in Zsa Zsa Gabor's mansion in Los Angeles; there, The Beatles were introduced to Ravi Shankar's sitar music by The Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn. That impact was so strong that it inspired George Harrison to buy a sitar for the Rubber Soul sessions later that year, deeply influencing Revolver in 1966. This musical awakening ultimately led Harrison to take formal lessons from Shankar, eventually drawing the band to India in 1967 to meet Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
The rest of the story is the well-known history of psychedelic music as a meta-genre and psychedelic rock as one of its genres, given that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus" at the time. Psychedelia soon developed further with bands such as Pink Floyd in the UK and the Grateful Dead and The Doors in the US, often blending its experimental, mind-expanding character with the emerging progressive rock idiom. And progressive psychedelia was born. It is essential to highlight that psychedelia, merged with the progressive music idiom, persisted throughout the seventies, contrary to the common belief that psychedelic music died out when the sixties gave way to the seventies. For example, the progressive psychedelic song Fly Like an Eagle by the Steve Miller Band reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 during the week of March 12, 1977. On the album of the same name, the song segues into Wild Mountain Honey; both songs are perfect examples of progressive psychedelia in the 70s. On the other side of the Atlantic, Anglo-French group Gong serves as a splendid example of the progressive psychedelia of the seventies, prior to their transition to space-rock and then to jazz-rock.
Beyond the Anglo-American bubble, continental Europe boasted a vibrant wave of progressive psychedelia during the late sixties and seventies. Take Italy's Le Stelle di Mario Schifano, whose 1967 track Le Ultime Parole di Brandimante, dall'Orlando Furioso, Ospite Peter Harman e Fine ("The Last Words of Brandimante, from Orlando Furioso, Guest Peter Harman and The End") stands as a monumental example. Clocking in at almost 18 minutes, this sprawling, progressive psychedelic composition—with its fierce avant-garde component—proves that continental Europe was completely neck-and-neck with the Anglo-American music world in terms of raw, pioneering ideas, even if its overall production output was smaller. For instance, the 1968 song I'm Gonna Tell You (Part I) by the Slovenian band Kameleoni serves as another fantastic early benchmark of this movement; originally released as a 7-inch single, it highlights the region's capacity for adventurous, mind-bending soundscapes. That same year, Hungarian icons Omega released the truly progressive psychedelic composition Holnap ("Tomorrow") (1968) on their debut album. The track masterfully balances dynamic sonic shifts with peaceful, guitar-driven interludes, all anchored by psychedelic licks and a sweeping Hammond organ. By 1970, this sonic exploration reached Czechoslovakia, perfectly captured in the beautiful, melancholic architecture of the progressive psychedelic song Sluneční hrob ("Sunny Grave") from the landmark debut album Meditace ("Meditation") by Modrý Efekt (then operating as The Blue Effect). Crossing into Austria, the haunting 1972 self-titled LP by Viennese outfit Paternoster pushed these boundaries into even darker territory. Their psychedelic-prog composition Mammoth Opus O, for example, wraps listeners in a somber atmosphere drenched in eerie, distorted, church-like organs. This thriving regional creativity is just as evident in the Swiss ensemble Krokodil and their beautiful 1972 track And I Know. Characterised by an expansive melodic structure, the piece builds an immersive listening experience out of dreamy guitar passages, shimmering electric piano, rich vocal harmonies, and swelling Mellotron accents that evoke a sense of spacious magnificence. To illustrate how this sound matured later in the 1970s, the 13-minute epic King and Queen (1976) by German band Lightshine exemplifies the hypnotic, guitar-driven ethos that defined Central European progressive psychedelia. While many casual listeners today lump this entire spectrum under the umbrella of "krautrock," the term was originally a pejorative coined by the British press. It was a lazy way to label German and Central European experimentalism as "pretentious garbage," simply because critics at the time couldn't distinguish genuine innovation from cultural otherness.
Simultaneously, a distinct and equally fascinating sonic landscape was unfolding in Southeast Europe. A prime example is Osećanje ("The Feeling"), a spooky and engrossing piece of progressive psychedelic music from the 1976 sophomore album by Serbian trio Dah (who were then well-known in Belgium because of their psychedelic folk-rock radio-hit single Shoshana, which they recorded there under the name Land). This Southeastern regional psychedelic wave is beautifully complemented by the Greek outfit Akritas; their ethereal, acoustic-guitar and keyboard-driven track Το Όνειρο ("The Dream") from their seminal 1973 self-titled album serves as a magnificent testament to how deeply the progressive psychedelic ethos had anchored itself in the Balkan and Mediterranean musical underground. In the 1970s Mediterranean, the trail of progressive psychedelia winds even further south. Moroccan composer and keyboardist Abdou El Omari masterfully fused traditional North African music with spaced-out, hypnotic arrangements. His 1976 instrumental masterpiece, Nuits d'Été ("Summer Nights"), was officially reissued on vinyl by Radio Martiko in 2017 and is available digitally on Bandcamp. Abdou El Omari seamlessly blended ancestral Moroccan rhythms with cosmic textures – filtering his Farfisa melodies through heavy echo effects while frequently switching to an analog ARP Odyssey synthesiser to craft a truly distinct, space-age atmosphere.
Another captivating manifestation of this sonic evolution is space-rock, a subgenre of progressive psychedelia whose lineage can be traced back to the English outfit UFO. Whilst they would subsequently pivot towards hard-rock and later heavy-metal – with the blistering 1977 title track Lights Out serving as a 100% pure, proto-NWOBHM sonic blueprint years before the movement officially got its name – the band's first two albums stand as quintessential, hallucinatory blueprints of the space-rock style. Essential to the space-rock aesthetic is the hypnotic deployment of the wah-wah pedal, which sweeps through frequencies over a repetitive, driving rhythm section with a pumping bass line and sharp, looping riffs to create a dizzying sense of cosmic momentum. This celestial trajectory was arguably perfected by Hawkwind, a band that transformed space-rock into a heavy, hypnotic assault of driving rhythms and sci-fi mysticism. Their seminal 1972 live album, Space Ritual, utilized pulsing audio generators and the dystopian poetry of Michael Moorcock to create an overwhelming, ritualistic wall of sound that felt less like a traditional rock concert and more like an actual voyage through a hostile cosmos. On a vastly different, more radiant spectacular of the same galactic map stood Steve Hillage, whose work both with Gong and on solo masterpieces like Fish Rising (1975) and L (1976) brought a shimmering, spiritual virtuosity to the genre. Hillage masterfully blended soaring, eco-cosmic guitar glissandos with intricate synthesiser tapestries, proving that seventies space-rock could be just as much about enlightenment and utopian bliss as it was about the dark, infinite void.


The Beatles Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (from Rubber Soul, 1965)





The Beatles Tomorrow Never Knows (from Revolver, 1966)





The Beatles Rain (7'' single, 1966)






The Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever (from 7-inch single, 1967)






Ravi Shankar Back to Earth (from Chappaqua, 1966)






Pink Floyd Arnold Layne (7'' single, 1967)






Pink Floyd Interstellar Overdrive live 1968, broadcast on German ARD TV






The Doors Not to Touch the Earth (from Waiting for the Sun, 1968)






Grateful Dead That's It for the Other One (from Anthem of the Sun, 1968)






Grateful Dead Mountains of the Moon (from Aoxomoxoa, 1969)






Grateful Dead Dark Star (from Live/Dead, 1969)





Le Stelle di Mario Schifano, Le Ultime Parole di Brandimante, dall'Orlando Furioso, Ospite Peter Harman e Fine (The Last Words of Brandimante, from Orlando Furioso, Guest Peter Harman and The End) (from Dedicato a.., 1967)





Kameleoni I'm Gonna Tell You (Part I) (from 7-inch single, 1968)






Omega Holnap (Tomorrow) (from Omega Red Star: From Hungary, 1968)







Modrý Efekt Sluneční hrob (Sunny Grave) (from Meditace, 1970)







Paternoster Mammoth Opus O (from Paternoster, 1972)







Steve Miller Band Fly Like an Eagle live @ the Palace Theater, NYC 1973






Gong Witch's Song/I Am Your Pussy live @ French TV 1973






Krokodil And I Know (from Getting Up for the Morning, 1972)






Akritas Το Όνειρο (The Dream) (from Akritas, 1973)







Dah Osećanje (The Feeling) (from Povratak, 1976)







Lightshine King and Queen (from Feeling, 1976)







Abdou El Omari رجعت العيون (The Return of the Eyes) (from Nuits d'Ete, 1976)







UFO Star Storm (from UFO 2: Flying, 1971)







Hawkwind The Watcher live @ Cleveland, 1974







Steve Hillage Hurdy Gurdy Glissando live @ BBC, 1976







Steve Hillage It's All Too Much (The Beatles cover) live @ Rockpalast, 1977









to be continued...

"1-2-3", 1966



Thus, as far as we know now, what had to happen on London's scene prior to the birth of progressive music is a quite logical question—how did it all begin? Actually, our beloved genre came out from three directions; one direction was created by an artist who came to London from Scotland. His name is Billy Ritchie, and he led a band called 1-2-3 (later renamed to Clouds). The way that Ritchie played his extended solos on the Hammond organ, his imitations of the sounds of church organ that were merged with their vocal harmonies on the basis of a melodic pop song, was something completely new and never heard before. In the music press, the band was described as "a unique group who have created an entirely new sound in pop group music." A crowd of Swinging London's underground scene that was pretty receptive to new & "weird" things due to the then "psychedelic" zeitgeist enthusiastically called Ritchie's music "progressive." Hence, Ritchie's style was immediately adopted by young and talented keyboard player Keith Emerson, and the style developed further with Emerson's band. The Nice; it later became known as "symphonic rock" as a genre with a focus on the keys, a lot of virtuosity, and the use of classical music sounds, without heavy riffs and without the aggressiveness of the above-mentioned "rock" genre.
Sadly, 1-2-3 weren't lucky enough to record an album at the right time. However, Billy Ritchie's importance & influence is undeniable.

America by 1-2-3, live in Marquee, London 1967






Waiter There's Something in My Soup by Clouds (from Up Above Our Heads, 1968)








Heritage by Clouds  (from 7-inch single, 1969)






Sing, Sing, Sing (Benny Goodman cover) by Clouds (from Up Above Our Heads, 1969)





Rondo by The Nice, live at Swidish  radio, 1967






Ars Longa Vita Brevis by The Nice, live at The Fillmore East, 1969






America by The Nice, live appearance at Swiss tv show "HitsAGoGo", 1968






Diary of an Empty Day by The Nice (from Nice, 1969)












Ballad-like compositions play a very important role in the symphonic rock genre. Nights in White Satin, the first ballad-like symphonic rock song ever released on vinyl, appeared as a single on Deram in 1967 and had a significant impact on later bands.

Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues (from 7-inch single, 1967)






Another sympho-rock ballad-like track from the genre's early days, Procol Harum's Grand Finale is instrumental and has a strong orchestral atmosphere. The chorale heightens the grandeur of a wonderful conclusion. It's a highly influential track as well.

'Twas In I: e) Grande Finale by Procol Harum (from Shine on Brightly, 1968)







Featuring future members of hard-rock band Uriah Heep, The Gods' 1968 debut album Genesis features this hidden ballad-like symphonic rock gem. It's a gorgeous, slow-burning song with soaring vocals, classical piano, early Mellotron-esque organ, and a haunting atmosphere that foreshadows many of the sympho-rock ballad-like anthems of the 1970s.

Looking Glass by The Gods (from Genesis, 1968)







Epitaph is a magnificent, ballad-like sympho-rock piece from King Crimson's debut album from 1969. As performed by the sad lament of the Mellotron and the powerful yet poignant vocalisation of Greg Lake, it sounds like a grand and sombre hymn, capturing the majesty of symphonic rock and the poetry of a dark and tragic ballad.

Epitaph by King Crimson (from In the Court of the Crimson King, 1969)










to be continued...

The Mothers of Invention in London, 1968










In 1966, American avant-garde musician Frank Zappa and his band The Mothers of Invention released a double album of experimental rock titled Freak Out!, which gained some success in England. Hence, they were playing in England in 1968, where they heavily influenced the English underground band Soft Machine, and that influence has creatively pushed Soft Machine to invent their own "progressive," surrealistic, humorous, dreamy, and pastoral mixture of psychedelia, jazz, and underground rock that decades later will be labeled as "Canterbury scene" as a distinct genre. The Mothers of Invention are also to blame for the music of British and European experimental rock bands like Henry Cow, Magma, Aksak Maboul, Samla Mammas Manna, Buldožer, et cetera.



The Mothers of Invention The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet (Unfinished Ballet In Two Tableaus) (from Freak Out!, 1966)








The Mothers of Invention live in London, 1968







In 1969, Frank Zappa entered the no-man's land between experimental rock and progressive fusion with his album Hot Rats, and in particular with that landmark composition, much-loved among progheads, The Gumbo Variations:


Frank Zappa The Gumbo Variations (from Hot Rats, 1969)









Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, and right under the noses of the London underground and progressive jazz scene, Canterbury's own Soft Machine were staging a radical coup, marking the beginning of another thrilling chapter in experimental music. By the late 1960s, they had rapidly shed their whimsical psychedelic pop skin to dive headfirst into completely uncharted, avant-garde, slightly Dadaistic waters. Driven by Mike Ratledge's fuzz-drenched, heavily distorted organ and Robert Wyatt's uniquely eccentric drumming and vocals, their sound became wonderfully dense, challenging, and unashamedly British. This early material effectively laid the blueprint for Europe's parallel jazzy and experimental music movement, proving that you didn't need to mimic the slick, powerhouse American virtuosity to completely rewrite the musical rulebook.




Soft Machine So Boot If at All (from The Soft Machine, 1968)







Soft Machine live, 25 August 1968 Ce Soir On Danse






Soft Machine live at the Blizen Jazz and Pop Festival, 1969











Speaking of pushing the absolute limits of the genre, we can't talk about what's prog without mentioning Henry Cow. They completely threw out the commercial rulebook, blending modern classical, free jazz, The Mothers of Invention influences, and Canterbury scene complexity to map out the blueprint for British experimental rock. If you want a brilliant entry point that captures their sheer musical intelligence, their 1973 debut, Legend, is a perfect example of how prog can be fiercely avant-garde, mathematically precise, and beautifully unpredictable all at once.


Henry Cow Teenbeat (from Legend, 1973)











English jazz-rock guitarist Allan Holdsworth's first band, 'Igginbottom, was formed in 1968 in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire. This band is often overlooked when discussing the origins of the jazz-rock genre. However, their sole album, 'Igginbottom's Wrench (1969), actually played a pivotal role in defining the genre at a time when the jazz-rock movement was still unsure of its direction.

'Igginbottom Golden Lakes (from 'Igginbottom's Wrench, 1969)









Allan Holdsworth with Soft Machine, live in Switzerland, 1974






Allan Holdsworth with The Pat Smythe Trio, TV Festival gig for European Radio / the BBC segment, 1974






Allan Holdsworth Velvet Darkness (from Velvet Darkness, 1976)






Allan Holdsworth's revolutionary technique and complex harmonic approach profoundly shaped the evolution of European jazz-rock guitarists, serving as a direct inspiration for virtuosos like Vlatko Stefanovski of the Macedonian jazz-rock band Leb i Sol.

Leb i Sol live in Belgrade 1978






Max Suñé, the guitarist of the 1970s Spanish jazz-rock powerhouse Iceberg, brilliantly infused his fiery Mediterranean phrasing with the ultra-fluid legato, blistering speed, and complex harmonic shapes pioneered by Allan Holdsworth.

Iceberg TV appearance 1977








The radical evolution of the progressive fusion genre was arguably happening across the Atlantic with Tony Williams Lifetime. Formed by the teenage jazz prodigy Tony Williams after he left Miles Davis's quintet, this American ensemble—featuring Larry Young on organ and John McLaughlin on guitar—became the definitive architects of progressive fusion. Rather than merely blending styles, they deconstructed them, utilizing Williams' explosive, polyrhythmic drumming to drive a dense, high-voltage sound that prioritized improvisation and technical virtuosity over traditional song structures. Their 1969 debut, Emergency!, stands as a monumental touchstone of American progressive fusion.
John McLaughlin was a British guitarist, who moved from London to the USA precisely to join this band and play with Miles Davis. The connection with Britain became much stronger when the band was joined on the second album Turn It Over (1970) by the famous Scottish bass player Jack Bruce, a former member of the iconic British psychedelic blues-rock group Cream (also, later Lifetime lineups featured Allan Holdsworth). Because of this, their performances and tours of the UK are legendary and leave a strong impact on the British underground music scene.


The Tony Williams Lifetime A Famous Blues live @ Beat-Club, Germany 1970







If Tony Williams Lifetime built the foundations, it was the Mahavishnu Orchestra that elevated the American style of progressive fusion into a realm of spiritual and terrifyingly precise jazz-rock. Formed in 1971 by the British guitar maestro John McLaughlin following his departure from Lifetime and Miles Davis's circle, this multinational powerhouse rewrote the limits of what a rock-adjacent band could achieve. Bringing together the volcanic drumming of Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer's searing keys patches, Jerry Goodman's electrified violin, and Rick Laird's rock-solid bass, the ensemble channelled a unique blend of complex Indian classical rhythms, jazz improvisation, and an instrumental prog-rock idiom. Their early masterpieces, particularly The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) and Birds of Fire (1973), introduced a staggering level of inter-instrumental dialogue and breakneck unison runs. Shortly after, Cobham delivered his masterpiece solo album, Spectrum. It was a dizzying, uncompromising sound that completely captivated the progressive music community.


Mahavishnu Orchestra Meeting of the Spirits/You Know You Know Live @ BBC, 1972




Mahavishnu Orchestra Birds of Fire (from Birds of Fire, 1973)





Billy Cobham Stratus (from Spectrum, 1973)







Parallel to McLaughlin's sonic storm, keyboard wizard Chick Corea was charting a similarly monumental path with his own outfit, Return to Forever. While the band initially began with a breezy, Latin-jazz disposition, they rapidly transformed into an absolute powerhouse of high-voltage jazz-rock. The definitive piece of their sonic puzzle fell into place in 1974 with the arrival of a nineteen-year-old guitar prodigy named Al Di Meola, whose blistering speed and crisp, percussive alternate-picking technique added a fierce, sharp-edged virtuosity to the group. Alongside Stanley Clarke's revolutionary, lead-driven electric bass lines and Lenny White's explosive drumming, this classic lineup reached creative zenith on their landmark 1974 release, Where Have I Known You Before. The album perfectly captured their newly unlocked progressive synergy, seamlessly juxtaposing Stanley Clarke and Lenny White's funk-inflected grooves and Di Meola's fiery phrasing against Corea's dreamy, multi-keyboard tapestries. Soon later, Clarke, White, and Di Meola released their phenomenal solo albums, Venusian Summer, Stanley Clarke, and Land of the Midnight Sun, which are also pivotal moments for the jazz-rock genre in its heyday of the mid-70s.


Return to Forever The Shadow of Lo live @ Evergreen College, 1974





Return to Forever Song to the Pharoah Kings (from Where Have I Known You Before, 1974)





Stanley Clarke Vulcan Princess (from Stanley Clarke, 1974)





Lenny White Chicken-Fried Steak (from Venusian Summer, 1975)





Al Di Meola The Wizard (from Land of the Midnight Sun, 1976)












A European counterweight to the American high-octane, warm, often funk-oriented fusion, found its spiritual home in Munich. German producer and musical visionary Manfred Eicher was arguably the first to explore the territory of progressive fusion with ambient flair, pioneering an approach through his legendary label, ECM Records, that traded the dense, blistering volume of the American scene for spatial awareness and stark atmospheric tension. Eicher's approach invites you to experience the vastness and loneliness of some wintry landscape, where every note seems as if it might freeze on a twig.
That said, the most influential figure in this icy, European take on progressive fusion was the Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal. He was the one who could take the raw materials of American innovators — Jimi Hendrix's electricity and Miles Davis's penchant for chaos — and shape them into something befitting Northern Europe's colder climes. If compared to a painter, Rypdal is closer to the impressionists in the way he suggests the sensation of space and movement with the help of loose brushstrokes and a consistent use of white colour. In terms of musical content, his 70s ECM albums could be seen as a continuation of the tradition of U.S. progressive fusion acts, but with a European twist. His album Waves (1978) itself is loaded with headroom, featuring Sveinung Hovensjø's driving electric bass and the resourceful support of drummer Jon Christensen. The ingredients are the same as in any electric fusion music, but the overall effect is quite different: instead of experiencing the shearing force of a hundred separate sounds vying for attention, the listener is mesmerised by the sheer power of the electric guitar as an instrument that can produce dramatic effect. This is where Rypdal fits in as a bandleader, juxtaposing the exposed beauty of his guitar melodies against the equally dramatic trumpet by Palle Mikkelborg. In addition to his soaring guitar work, Rypdal also textures the music with a synthesiser and the RMI keyboard computer. No one before him managed to create such a powerful emotional charge within the ECM environment while remaining true to the European school of musical expression.
Another legendary ECM artist I want to mention is the German bassist Eberhard Weber. He released several fantastic albums, and his 1976 album entitled Yellow Fields is particularly significant for European progressive fusion. The album features Weber's seminal group Colours (with Charlie Mariano on soprano saxophone and ancient woodwind instruments, Rainer Brüninghaus on keyboards, and Jon Christensen on percussion and drums). Blending intricate rhythms with rich keyboard textures, Yellow Fields is a wonderfully dreamy, highly respected album among progheads. The progressive appeal is further heightened on the opening track Touch, which prominently features Brüninghaus' spacious Mellotron textures. Central to this atmosphere is Weber's unmistakable, custom electric upright bass tone—a deeply melodic, fluid, and singing sound enhanced by subtle chorus and delay that completely redefined the instrument's role in a progressive fusion setting. For the prog fans here, it's also worth noting that legendary Soft Machine drummer John Marshall took over the drum throne from Christensen right after this album, anchoring Colours for the rest of their run.



Terje Rypdal Per Ulv (from Waves, 1978)






Eberhard Weber Touch (from Yellow Fields, 1976)












Speaking of jazz-rock/fusion, I would like to share the true origins of the word "progressive" in music, as there's a common misconception that it started with late 60s rock bands. The term actually crossed over from across the Atlantic and has deep roots in the jazz scene. The concept was originally coined in the United States back in the late 1940s. Pianist and bandleader Stan Kenton pushed the boundaries of big band music by incorporating complex arrangements, dissonance, and elements of modern classical composers like Stravinsky. He specifically labeled his experimental orchestral sound as "progressive jazz". This culminated in a landmark album release on Capitol Records, titled A Presentation of Progressive Jazz. Shortly after, British jazz musicians adopted the term.
By the early-to-mid 1960s, the term was heavily associated with the eclectic, avant-garde, and boundary-pushing styles of jazz played at the famous Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho. It was this specific British environment – where jazz, rock, and classical structures began to blur – that laid the foundation for the "progressive" tag to eventually attach itself to rock music by the end of the decade. The British musicians involved in the progressive jazz movement embraced a bohemian lifestyle that existed outside of conventional social and cultural norms at the time, as well as their musical direction diverging significantly from the jazz mainstream, rejecting any restrictions and guidelines.
Now, before anyone tries to historical-engineer this and claim that "progressive rock" completely separated itself from jazz by 1969, let me throw a beautiful piece of evidence your way. Look no further than DECCA’s legendary 1969 sampler compilation, Various – The World of Progressive Music: Wowie Zowie!. Right there on the tracklist, nestled perfectly alongside Genesis, East of Eden, and The Moody Blues, DECCA officially included a British progressive jazz group: The John Cameron Quartet with their track Go Away, Come Back Another Day. Originally recorded for their superb 1969 Deram album Off Centre, this instrumental features the brilliant Harold McNair on flute and Danny Thompson on double bass. It is an absolute masterpiece of atmospheric music. Quite frankly, it is ECM before ECM was even a thing — predating that entire European impressionistic, spacious and cerebral jazz aesthetic that Manfred Eicher would later modernise.

Thus, ’60s British progressive jazz is a fascinating piece of the proto-prog puzzle. For a perfect example of this eclectic London scene, check out this clip:







to be continued...

How was progressive rock, evolving from a niche underground scene in 1967 and 1968, elevated to become the bearer of youth counterculture at the dawn of the seventies and throughout that decade? It happened when Family and King Crimson both successfully secured – although King Crimson had not yet released their debut album – a place on the lineup of The Rolling Stones' one-day free festival called "The Stones in the Park", in London's Hyde Park on July 5, 1969. Family was great as always, but that day a thunderous version of 21st Century Schizoid Man, along with the grand Mellotron sounds of the track The Court of the Crimson King, won the hearts of 500,000 spectators. A few months later, in October 1969, King Crimson released their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King. Guided by the mythic, kaleidoscopic imagination of lyricist Peter Sinfield, this landmark release anchored the band's early surrealistic phase, weaving a tapestry of arcane fantasy and existential dread. The album was met with extraordinary acclaim from the outset. Pete Townshend of The Who, already a major figure in British rock, described it in the contemporary press as an "uncanny masterpiece". Nick Logan, writing retrospectively in The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock (1976), noted that the album's reception confirmed King Crimson's status as "the most fashionable band in England at the time". The progressive rock heyday had begun.


King Crimson 21st Century Schizoid Man, live at Hyde Park, London 1969






King Crimson The Court of the Crimson King (from In the Court of the Crimson King, 1969)







King Crimson In the Wake of Poseidon (from In the Wake of Poseidon, 1970)









King Crimson The Battle of Glass Tears (Dawn Song, Last Skirmish, Prince Rupert's Lament) (from Lizard, 1970)











King Crimson Islands (from Islands, 1971)









King Crimson Larks' Tongues in Aspic Pt. I live @ Beat-Club, Bremen







Yet another monumental testament to the era's progressive rock is the surviving 1972 Belgian television broadcast by Van der Graaf Generator, immortalized in the privately remastered YouTube artifact Theme One / A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers. That this performance was captured on the continent is no coincidence; during the early 1970s, the band enjoyed a significantly greater popularity and chart success in Belgium and Italy than in their native UK. Capturing the group at the absolute zenith of their gloomy, theatrical intensity, this footage serves as a spellbinding visual document of Peter Hammill's Weltschmerz and the group's complex multi-instrumental fury. Ultimately, the performance acts as a claustrophobic crucible, forging a dark blueprint for the progressive rock movement that remains entirely unparalleled in its raw, uncompromising architecture.











It should be said here that, right at the beginning, at the heart of the strand of British progressive rock known as the Canterbury scene, stood Caravan, formed in Ashford, Kent, before moving to nearby Canterbury. Their self-titled debut album, released in early January 1969, stands as a landmark of early prog history. Notably, the liner notes on the original LP sleeve are widely cited as the first known instance in which the term "progressive rock" appeared in print to describe a musical genre, marking a pivotal moment in how the style was categorised and understood. The album's longest track Where but for Caravan Would I exemplifies this sound with its dreamy, melodic flow and sophisticated instrumentation, featuring Richard Sinclair's beautiful vocals, seamlessly blending a quintessentially English pastoral atmosphere, evocative of the watercolours of 19th-century English landscape painters, with jazz-like complexity — a combination that would become one of the defining features of the Canterbury sound.







Caravan's whimsical side blossomed even further on their masterpieces If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You (1970) and In the Land of Grey and Pink (1971). Their performance of Winter Wine, captured by the German television programme Beat-Club in 1971, offers a delightful glimpse of the band's uniquely English eccentricity: pastoral, playful and gently psychedelic, yet underpinned by the intricate musicianship that had become a hallmark of the Canterbury sound. It is progressive rock without grandeur or bombast — instead, Caravan create an enchanting little world of their own, where whimsy, melody and jazz-inflected complexity coexist effortlessly.








Caravan As I Feel I Die (from If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You, 1970)










By 1969, the British scene was transitioning from obscure underground experiments into the definitive architecture of what we now call classic progressive rock. Look no further than the closing track of Yes' 1969 self-titled debut album: Survival. Long before they dominated the global stage with sprawling, 20-minute cosmic suites and stadium gigs, this foundational lineup—Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Bill Bruford, Peter Banks, and Tony Kaye—was already setting the genre's blueprint.
Survival is an absolute masterclass in early prog dynamics. It opens with an adventurous, heavily distorted guitar riff and a complex, jazzy ride-cymbal pattern from Bruford, only to seamlessly transform into a gorgeous, melodic hymn centred on nature and humanity. What truly makes the track an early progressive rock benchmark, though, is the unmistakable musical DNA that would define their peak era: Chris Squire’s driving, aggressive Rickenbacker basslines and those crystal-clear, tightly layered three-part vocal harmonies that became the band's sonic signature.


Yes No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed / Looking Around / Survival live @ Beat-Club, 1969










The dawn of a new decade brought about the complete crystallisation of the progressive sound, and few examples illustrate this shift better than Genesis performing Looking for Someone live at the iconic Atomic Sunrise Festival in March 1970. Long before Phil Collins and Steve Hackett re-established the band and ushered in their golden era of symphonic rock, this early, charismatic line-up—comprising Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Anthony Phillips, and drummer John Mayhew—was just beginning to forge its own theatrical path.
Looking for Someone, the opening track of Genesis' second album Trespass, serves as a powerful illustration of their sympho-rock style. This distinctive sound, unveiled on Trespass, went on to influence numerous artists for decades. This particular footage from London's Roundhouse offers a fascinatingly rare glimpse into the birth of a legend: from Peter Gabriel's soulful, raw vocal delivery and trademark flute playing, to the dense, dramatic organ textures that already heralded the complex showmanship the band would soon become famous for.


Genesis Looking for Someone live @ Atomic Sunrise Festival, 1970












While progressive rock undoubtedly had its roots in the UK underground, the genre quickly crossed the Channel and took a firm hold across continental Europe. European musicians did not just replicate the British sound; they eagerly absorbed the style and fused it with their own classical traditions and experimental sensibilities. The local scenes exploded as artists traded conventional pop structures for complex tracks sung in their native languages. This rapid cross-pollination transformed what started as a London phenomenon into a truly international movement by the early 1970s. Ultimately, the continent's adventurous underground proved that complex, boundary-pushing rock music was a universal language that bypassed geopolitical borders entirely.


Martin Circus Le matin des magiciens (The Morning of the Magicians) live at French TV, 1969





Grupa Marina Škrgatića Prirodi (To the Nature) live at Zagreb Radio, 1970






Korni grupa Jedna žena (One Woman) live in Belgrade, 1970






Premiata Forneria Marconi La carrozza di Hans (Hans's Carriage) live @ Lucio Battisti's "Tutti insieme" show, 1971






Focus House of the King live @ Radio Luxembourg, 1971







Ange Le vieux de la montagne live @ French TV 1972











to be continued...

So what happened to our beloved genre in the Eighties? In the late '70s, the music press grew somewhat disinterested in prog as a new phenomenon known as “punk,” crafted at the boutique SEX in London's Chelsea, emerged. The punk hysteria clearly impacted the music industry. However, contrary to the popular myth often repeated on modern internet forums, the 1980s were actually far from a dead zone for progressive music. Indeed, three wonderful, huge things happened in the early Eighties. Notably, in Continental European countries such as France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and the republics of the former Yugoslavia, young audiences showed considerable enthusiasm for exploring albums by experimental rock acts. The youth of the time were receptive to eccentric jazz-rock and ECM albums from artists worldwide. This included German keyboardist Rainer Brüninghaus, who released his masterpiece album Freigeweht in 1980, and the U.S. acoustic fusion outfit Oregon, who had already achieved greatness in the '70s and now, incorporating synthesizers into their sound, continued dropping fantastic stuff for the ECM label during the '80s. Furthermore, Everyman Band released their phenomenal progressive fusion debut for ECM in 1982. Five years later, the band's guitarist, David Torn, accompanied by a stellar lineup featuring Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, and Mark Isham, released the definitive '80s fusion masterpiece Cloud About Mercury. Audiences also embraced experimental rock waves from both Continental Europe and the U.S., as well as ambient music by Brian Eno and Jon Hassell. Overall, the 1980s saw a noticeable increase in interest in a variety of experimental music.


Univers Zero & Art Zoyd live at the Jazz Pulsation Festival, France, 1980






Begnagrad live in Koper, Slovenia, 1982






Frank Zappa Moggio (from The Man from Utopia, 1983)






Hugh Hopper & Alan Gowen Two Rainbows Daily (from Two Rainbows Daily, 1980)






Dün L'Epice (from Eros, 1981)






Smak Talisman (from Zašto ne volim sneg, 1981)






Kenso 麻酔 Part 2 (from Kenso 2, 1982)






Rainer Brüninghaus Freigeweht (from Freigeweht, 1980)






Everyman Band Japan Smiles (from Everyman Band, 1982)






Oregon Queen of Sydney (from Crossing, 1985)






David Torn Network of Sparks: Egg Learns to Walk... Suyafhu Seal (from Cloud About Mercury, 1987)





Nimal Animal Triste (from Nimal, 1987)





Daniel Schell & Karo If Windows They Have (from If Windows They Have, 1988)





Jon Hassell and Brian Eno Chemistry (from Fourth World Vol. 1 - Possible Musics, 1980)







Deep in the heart of the American Southwest, a group of talented young musicians was brewing up an unorthodox sound quite unlike anything else in the US experimental rock scene at the time, forming the band Cartoon. Keyboardist Scott Brazieal, guitarist Mark Innocenti, and drummer Gary Para set out to fuse intricate arrangements with a distinct sense of playfulness. Their love for animated television scores perfectly matched the classical piano foundation brought by Brazieal. By 1980, the outfit had relocated to San Francisco, where they expanded their line-up with violinist Craig Fry and woodwind player Herb Diamant, ultimately releasing their self-titled debut album, Cartoon, in 1982. Music from Left Field followed in 1983. Overall, their discography remains a masterfully eccentric slice of American avant-garde, seamlessly blending experimental rock discipline with a delightful, Looney Tunes-esque unpredictability.

Cartoon Bottom of the Ninth (from Music from Left Field, 1983)







Mr. Fripp reformed King Crimson, who released three rather good albums inspired by the sound of post-punk; the first, titled Discipline (1981), is a masterwork that demonstrated that Progressive rock, having embraced the new music of the '80s, continued strongly.

King Crimson Thela Hun Ginjeet (from Discipline, 1981)








Another wonderful development in the first half of the '80s was the British Symphonic Rock Revival, now far better known as the Neo-Prog movement, which began with Marillion. This band achieved success with their debut album, Script for a Jester's Tear, released in March 1983. Script for a Jester's Tear is a brilliant example of symphonic rock from the early eighties and, alongside the aforementioned King Crimson's progressive/post-punk trilogy, is a must-have LP in the collection of every prog-head.

Marillion live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, 1983







People who dismiss the 1980s as a weak period for prog rock should discover Solaris' Marsbéli Krónikák (Martian Chronicles) from 1984, an instrumental sympho-rock masterpiece—one of the greatest in that genre—inspired by Ray Bradbury's science fiction novel The Martian Chronicles. Full of dreamy flute and synths, the album is spacey yet symphonic, with intricate compositions that vividly capture the novel's otherworldly themes.

Solaris Marsbéli Krónikák IV-VI - The Martian Chronicles IV-VI (from Marsbéli Krónikák (Martian Chronicles), 1984)







to be continued...

Someone said, quite wisely, that the creativity of independent artists has never been better than it is now; thanks to modern technology, there are lots of magnificent albums being released in the new millennium as self-releases on Internet platforms. Prog bands no longer largely depend on the goodwill and taste of record companies. So today, our beloved genre is coming to us from almost all the directions that popular music has given to the world so far. It comes from alt. rock, indie rock, world music, post-rock, freak folk, et cetera, and flows into Prog. And yet, the classic genres of Progressive music that were established in the late Sixties – Progressive rock, Symphonic rock and Jazz-Rock – are not neglected nowadays; on the contrary, there are a number of contemporary bands that are creating their original music within the frameworks of these classic genres as well.

Well, some people will always try to dismiss most of the new stuff and to minimise the quality of contemporary Prog in general, but my advice to a newcomer who is into modern Prog would be – just don’t give a shit about them, because there isn’t any valid argument against the magnificent achievements of contemporary Prog that are here to stay.




Napier's Bones Psychic Driving (progressive rock) (from Alpha​-​Omega Man, 2017)








Sunchild Victory Voyager (symphonic rock)  from Messages from Afar: the Division and Illusion of Time, 2018)







Bosque Four Noble Truths (jazz-rock) (from Four Noble Truths, 2015)

The term progressive folk-rock, or shortened to "prog-folk," did not actually exist at the time; it was simply folk-rock. However, in hindsight, we can say that some of the 70s folk-rock endeavours truly belonged to the Progressive music zeitgeist.



Pentangle Light Flight (from Basket of Light, 1969)









Strawbs The Shepherd's Song (from From the Witchwood, 1971)










Trio Dag Cvet starog samuraja (The Old Samurai's Flower) (from Sećanja, 1974)









Harmonium Depuis l'automne (Since Autumn) (from Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison, 1975)









S Vremena Na Vreme Tema classica (Classic Theme) (from S vremena na vreme, 1975)









Iraklis Se Allous Kosmous (In Other Worlds) (from Se Allous Kosmous, 1976)










Suncokret Prvi sneg (The First Snow) (from Moje bube, 1977)










Ougenweide Ich Sinn', Ich Denke Hin Und Her (I Muse, I Think Back and Forth) (from Frÿheit, 1978)









Jethro Tull Dun Ringill (from Stormwatch, 1979)