Chapter 13

Progressive and Glitter Rock

What started to happen in music
at this time was more of the welleducated university graduate
types were coming in as
musicians and band members
-Chris Blackwell of Island Records

Key Concepts in Progressive Rock

Avant-garde: Is classified as very current, modern, and experimental music.
Aleatory: Is a Musical happening.
Concept albums: Albums that feature a specific idea or view from the musician's
perspective.

Influences of Progressive Rock

The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers lonely hearts club band (1967)
Classical music approach/Artistic approach, and outlook on music
Homosexual movement. (Glitter Rock)
Beat Movement.

Bands with Classical

Instruments
Moody Blues
Electric Light Orchestra
Genesis (Peter Gabriel)

The Mellotron
The use of the orchestra was difficult in performances so the
use to the Mellotron was introduced. The Mellotron is an
electro-mechanical instrument invented in England, that
uses taped recordings of acoustic (often orchestral)
instruments to recreate the sound of those instruments. Thus
making it possible for the band to play the music as is was
recording without having to take the orchestra with them.

Inventors of the mellotron

Moody Blues Mellotron
Genesis - Watcher of the Skies

Listening Guide Nights in White Satin

The Moody Blues (1967)

Tempo: 52 beats per minute 4 beats per Bar.

From: The melody is based of the Aeolian mode (
Natural notes from A to A)
Features: Fairly strong back beat that drops out for the
orchestra finale. Heavy use of the mellotron

Progressive Rock Based on

Classical Forms
Progressive Rock based on classical forms and structured
music, including full group vocal harmonies.
Use of synthesizer to help with full orchestra sound
The band Yes often used a multimovement form called a
suite, which is a collection of instrumental pieces based on
dance rhythms and forms

Bach Suite
Emerson Lake and Palmer

Listening Guide Roundabout

Yes (1971)

Tempo: 135 bpm, 4 beats per bar

Features: Strong backbeat on drums, synthesizer,
organ, group vocals
Synthesizer for random orchestral sound

Progressive Rock
Influenced by Avant-Garde
Trends
Pink Floyd
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn Rolling Stones Influence
Under Syd Barrett - focus on creativity with sound and special
effects
Jugaband Blues
Barretts desire for complete originality and excessive use of
LSD led to his being phased out of the band.
Atom Heart Mother Electronic Influence
Syds moving out meant that we had to start writing In fact,
his leaving made us pursue the idea of the extended epic and
a more classically constructed idea of music - Roger Waters

Listening Guide Money (Pink Floyd)

Tempo: About 120 beats per minute and 7 beats in each
bar

Form: Two 12 bar verses followed by a 12 barinstrumental. Also featuring saxophone solos.
Features: Recording of old fashioned cash registers
ringing and change falling. Other sound effects etc.

Pink Floyds albums closely follow the patterns of concept albums, for
example The Wall features a 3 part song called Another Brick in the
Wall.

Frank Zappa and Freedom

of Expression

Rhythm and Blues guitarist, but transitioned into contemporary

experimental art music
Zappa became somewhat of a spokesperson for freedom of expression
in a world where people claimed to be free but blindly followed pop
trends.
Similar views to the Beat movement
Censorship, in effect, is turning the United States into a police state,
as far as ideas go. Its not about children learning dirty words. Its
about putting a lid on ideas

Listening Guide Dont Eat the Yellow Snow (Zappa)

Tempo: About 138 bpm, with 7 beats per bar.
Features: Lyric lines inserted at irregular times. Drum
accented backbeat, Jazzy trumpet.

This song is also a suite

Progressive Rock with

Roots in Hard Rock
Rush - Started out as a Canadian cover band

Loud and Heavy music, with song themes of power and

evil connecting them with British heavy metal bands.
Rush began to use extended classical forms and
multimovement works such as Yes, thus splitting the line
between progressive rock and hard rock.
Drummer Neal Peart wrote the lyrics to most songs, but
was not the lead singer.

Neal Peart Drum Solo

Listening Guide New World Man (Rush)

Tempo: 160 bpm, 4 beats per bar
Features: 16 bar instrumental intro, Frequent key changes, Both even and
uneven beat subdivisions, Drum accented backbeat.

Glitter Rock
Roots in the Beat Movement, and
Homosexual Movement

Antiestablishment movements, such as Alan Ginsbergs

demands for acceptance of homosexuality led to bands
performing in androgynous dress in both Britain and the
US.
Only main difference in Progressive and Glitter rock is
the dress and the activism.

David Bowie

Born David Robert Jones (1947)

Inspired by beat movement
Chose the name David Bowie after the knife because he
wanted his music to cut like a knife through lies
Bowie wanted to create a character in performances
rather than simply come out and sing for audiences,
such as Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, etc
Many of his albums based on space movement

David Bowie, cont

Went beyond the androgynous dress of his peers and

became the face of the glitter movement after
appearing on the cover of the album The Man Who
Sold the World dressed like a 1940s Hollywood starlet.
His musical style is hard to define, but a mainstay of
glitter rock is the music being secondary to the act
itself, an area where Bowie excelled, creating his
characters to fit the moment.

I don't know where I'm going from here, but I

promise it won't be boring.
-David Bowie

Listening Guide Space Oddity (Bowie)

Tempo: 69 bpm, 4 beats per bar
Features: Gradually increasing volume, military march
beat, space inspired sound effects, modulations,
rhythmically strummed acoustic guitar. Bowie sings
alone, but overdubs his own voice creating a duo
effect

Queen
Freddy Mercury (born Frederick Bulsara)
Placed in the Glitter category by both their androgynous dress
performances, and the androgynous implications of their band name.
Rather than work up through small gigs and clubs, developed and
elaborate stage act before approaching record labels, so they were
ready for superstardom directly.
Hard rock with heavy metal guitar lines, but progressive in their well
crafted arrangements, they achieved effects that were unsurpassed in
the rock music of their time

Listening Guide Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)

1975

Tempo: 72 bpm, 4 beats per bar, but varied tempo from

section to section
Features: Mini opera style with overdubbed voices, a
capella voices, strong backbeat that enters and leaves.
Antiphonal chorus (callout and answer).
Heavy bass and distorted guitar highlight 4th section
Song reentered US pop charts at #2 in 1992 after being
featured in the movie Waynes World

Conclusion
Progressive and Glitter rock were very affected by art and social
movements, with classic forms combining with rock and metal sounds,
which pushed rock and roll music to the edge.\
Electronic sounds were very common from Moody Blues with their
Mellotron to Pink Floyd and Yess synthesizers
Glitter artist performances became theatrical works of art, more
focused on the performance than the music itself

Sources:
Rock Music Styles: A History, Edition 7, Katherine Charlton, pg 198-215
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