A Perfect Circle "Judith" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTgKRCXybSM
Celtic Frost – “I Won’t Dance”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySijB9hUvBM
Rock has undergone many detours and
developments over time since the Fab Four from Liverpool (Beatles) began to
change the rules of the game in the 1960s. We can call them "grafts,"
and we know that they often bear good fruit as well. However, to analyze the
meaning of Progressive Metal one needs to take a fairly remarkable step back in
time, that is, to go back to the Beatles years. Towards the end of the 1960s
with the song "Eleanor Rigby" the well-known quartet poses a
considerable push to the change of Rock, bringing into it the string
instrumentation of the classical style, so here Rock is no longer made only of
electric guitars, but also of "alternative" instrumentation for the
genre, i.e., classical. This thrust is the seed of what would later be called
Progressive Rock. The idea was later developed by the Moody Blues, Procol
Harum, Keith Emerson's Nice, until we arrive in 1969 at the first official
Progressive Rock record, that "In The Court Of The Crimson King" by
King Crimson complete with a Mellotron keyboard to make up for the absence of a
real orchestra. But that was it, Prog Rock was born with its own
"cultured" way of presenting itself, no longer devoted to ditties but
to long suites. More complex lyrics, more theatrical way of presenting itself,
concept albums, instrumental lucubrations and much more in the music of giants
like Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant, EL&P etc. etc.
From 1970 to 1978 Rock will undergo in this regard dozens and dozens of grafts,
Prog Jazz, Prog Folk, Crossover Prog, Psychedelic Prog etc. etc. until it
reaches exhaustion and then in 1978 people begin to get tired of this
"complex" way of playing and long suites, fashions change, comes
"Saturday Night Fever" and disco music so in Rock develops in
parallel Garage Rock into Punk, three notes, short tracks let's smash
everything and have fun, exactly the opposite spirit of Prog (Sex Pistols in
the chair).
But this you know resides in the
nature of things, you change and music mirrors the society of the moment. So
here in 1980 a new branch is grafted into Rock, Hard Rock represented by bands
like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Atomic Rooster, Black Sabbath goes to join with
Punk fashionable at this time to give birth in England to NWOBHM (New Wave Of
British Heavy Metal).
To understand it, Heavy Metal is
hard, distorted music, absolutely not compared to "cultured music" so
much so that journalists blindly branded it short-lived. The term Heavy Metal
is extrapolated from a 1968 Steppenwolf song titled "Born To Be Wild"
where within the lyrics is the phrase Heavy Metal Tunder," like a
lightning bolt through metal and this appealed to journalists to best represent
the din of young bands such as Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Saxon etc. etc.
In the 1980s therefore, heavy metal
is enjoying excellent health and numerous sales, while Progressive Rock is
stunned, almost gone. But by the law of graft and evolution, there is always
someone who makes it weird, a sort of little Beatles. From Canada comes a trio
that moves Hard Rock into unconventional shores, even if the distortion of
electric guitars is still not at its best, they are called Rush and certain
songs are complex and even suite-like in length, an anomaly for the process of
the moment. So years later a band from Seattle named Queensryche ventures even
further to change heavy metal, does it do so consciously? Maybe not, it
probably all comes naturally to them, but the music shifts to numerous tempo
and mood changes, something that in a classic Heavy Metal song this usually
does not happen. Keyboards take over (blasphemy for a metalhead), so much so
that they contaminate even the masters of Heavy Metal, namely Judas Priest in
the 1986 album "Turbo," but something alien happens shortly
thereafter, the consecration of the term Progressive Metal comes in 1989
attributed to an American band named Dream Theater. With the album "When
Dream And Day Unite" (MCA - 1989) the rules change again, Dream Theater
make keyboards play an almost fundamental role, so they relegate instrumental
and vocal technique to very high levels, just as a sign of recognition of the
genre, i.e. cultured Metal, born here in a definitive way! All this would
suggest that Progressive Metal should not exist, it is an oxymoron, can raw
music and cultured music share? Time and the evolution of sounds will answer
yes.
THE CLASSIC
Rush
– “Tom Sawyer”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auLBLk4ibAk
“Villa Strangiato”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNilsLf6eW4
Dream
Theater - “Surrounded”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnnBgyhAaPU
“The
Spirit Carries On”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J6PPkKBXoU
Queensryche
– “Operation: Mindcrime”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAI2QOBMlTA
“Someone
Else”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3a2NPeWd1U
Iron
Maiden – “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2WgQtPUsuQ&list=PL4YsnucVIwWq-XNxVNMysk6yYB8bBvZ9L&index=5
Savatage
– “Chance”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TboNW5AiHA8
“Edge
Of Thorns”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VOzdcCy1Vg
Fates
Waring – “Leave The Past Behind”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmJmf10NNEE
Crimson
Glory – “Lost Reflection”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-polqoaTEQU
Helloween
– “Dr. Stein”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FFTQRmsK0k
Mastermind
– “Child of Technology”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vl3czQzk98
Symphony
X – “Smoke and Mirrors”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhUWYOnTV3c
Yngwie
Malmsteen Rising Force – “Black Star”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZp323l7hes
Pain
Of Salvation – “Remedy Lane”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y3Srj6JDQQ&list=PL3FB920DDF3162A57&index=10
Now
you have memorized what is meant by classical progressive metal. Obviously the
musical universe is broader, but here you have assumed what you need to have a
good foundation of it. At this point you can go further and go to listen and
learn about new grafts and thus brand new sounds. Metal splits into so many
subgenres, thanks to bands like Metallica, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Voivod,
Obituary, Candlemass, Venom, each in its own field, Thrash Metal, Gothic Metal,
Doom Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Experimental / Avant Garde Metal, Sludge Metal,
Groove Metal, Psychedelic Metal etc. etc. These sub-genres in turn will be
treated by some bands in a "Progressive" way and here comes an
immense cauldron of new sounds and a lot of experimentation. Here it is that by
"Progressive Metal" we now mean numerous solutions for which we
necessarily had to subdivide the subgenres in turn with as many names (those
made above with the addition of the term "Progressive" e.g.
Progressive Thrash Metal), however to unify everything under the single banner
Progressive Metal is still fine.
And
now you can listen to what is meant by subgenres of Progressive Metal with
numerous grafts and you will notice a completely different world while having
the same basis as the classics. Obviously we are talking about bands more recent
than the birth of the genre, this being an evolution.
PROGRESSIVE
METAL SUBGENRES
Ayreon
– “Computer Eyes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA0UtJQFbog
Cynic
– “Umanoid”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj43zrrQd0o
Meshuggah
– “Bleed”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc98u-eGzlc
Tool
– “The Pot”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2F_hGwD26g
Voivod
– “The Unknown Knows”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2QeFd7M0mk
Opeth
– “Windowpane”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEaf9LqIUZQ
“Porcelain
Heart”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmH42QnsL6Q
Anathema
– “Flying”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVF4uNiy2Zk
“Forgotten
Hopes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhMlXtAjf_Q
Porcupine
Tree – “Blackest Eyes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWsYG_pE76o
“Arriving
somewhere but not here”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbWhpfXisZw
Mystery
– “Pride”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH9bgfpY0so
Tiles
– “Reasonable Doubt”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI6_Ku81p5I
Ulver
– “So Falls the World”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIfmD7lz99w
A
Perfect Circle "Judith" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTgKRCXybSM
Celtic
Frost – “I Won’t Dance”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySijB9hUvBM
Evergrey
– “Distance”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqoJTWmG4Xs
Threshold
– “Sunrise On Mars”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4XKq5ArCPU
Shadow
Gallery – “Crystalline Dream”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXjEKQAMWpk
Power
Of Omens – “Alone I Stand”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-falVbVNeE
Everon
– “Everon”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQhA5wDcTLA
Vanden
Plas – “Beyond Daylight”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Y66H24GLQ
Liquid
Tension Experiment – “Paradigm Shift”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pofqHfSvy_8
Angra
– 2Carry On”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytotGK6YQ40
Stratovarius
– “Elysium”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikDS1TBAElo
Redemption
– “Little Man”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjrM0wsEK5Y
Magellan – “Estadium Nacional”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilI3nOH-krU
Enchant
– “Break”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mnp8WS9lhU
Riverside
–“Conceiving You”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMXG7kM8YZk
Sieges
Even – “These Empty Places”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuoxFRW6u7s
Circus
Maximus – “Sin”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HD0bapCVZ0
Leprous
– “Rewind”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3ken_aH550
Dante
– “November Red”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSq6legCqH0
Epica
– “Storm The Sorrow”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNoTvg0t52c
Garden
Wall – “Negative”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlUVhwTPzp8
Labyrinth
– “Moonlight”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFaaIZQy_do
Rhapsody
Of Fire – “Dawn of Victory”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L_iOnLNt9M
Blind
Guardian – “A Past and Future Secret”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8GIVtCNlCk
Walls
Of Babylon – “Let Me Try”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-uawcJ05c8
Mind
Key – “Waiting For The Answer”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDoVz9CAwbk
Moonlight
Comedy – “Hidden Truth”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXTS0hKG5Y8
Nightwish
– “Elan”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPonioDYnoY
Platypus
– “What About The Merch?”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk4ig7NpAac&start_radio=1&list=RDEMT5zUI3WLyR873zh4cVegyg
Royal
Hunt – “Until The Day”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYfeoH9MGyI
Seventh
Wonder – “Victorious”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhubRsr11rk
Sons
Of Apollo – “Coming Home”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_1N8kVYfkE
Stramonio
– “Desert Night”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ62KDZfdfI
Therion
– “Rise Of Sodom And Gomorrah”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_NtCdMdGrg
Time
Machine – “Cold Flames Of Faith”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opeCYXpAhTo
Haken
– “The Point of No Return”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt03KJw2IAU
At
this point to deepen the topic and make it more comprehensive will serve your
curiosity, of course only if you have found interesting insights in all this.
Perhaps you have discovered a new genre that appeals to you and that is the
purpose of this little special. Today we have the Internet to discover and
research, so enjoy. MS
Ciao Massimo,bello speciale,è sempre un piacere leggere le cose che scrivi.Per chi vuole approfondire l'argomento consiglio vivamente il bel libro di Wagner "Prog Metal"(edito da Tsunami)dove si parte addirittura dai King Crimson che a detta di Fripp suonavano Metal Intelligente o da"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath",capolavoro dei Sabbath che aveva varie cose progressive(basti pensare che ci suonava come ospite alle tastiere un certo Rick Wakeman!).Ma certo concordo con te,è con lo sfortunato,ancora grezzo ma fondamentale "When the Dream..."(poi perfezionato con l'insuperabile "Images & Words",il "In the Court..."del Prog-Metal)che il Prog-Metal ha una decodificazione netta di ciò che Queensryche & Fates Warning avevano in parte preparato(ma alla fine rimanevano band più Metal che Prog).Ti do una lista personale di 20(i primi 10 solo DT,Queensryche & Fates Warning,le bands definitive del genere...i Rush sono ancora Hard-Prog come i Kansas in parte)miei albums preferiti di Progressive Metal:
RispondiElimina1-"Images & Words"-Dream Theater
2-"Operation:Mindcrime"-Queensryche
3-"Awake"-Dream Theater
4-"A Pleasant Shade of Gray"-Fates Warning
5-"Rage for Order"-Queensryche
6-"Parallels"-Fates Warning
7-"Promised Land"-Queensryche
8-"Empire"-Queensryche
9-"When the Dream & Day Unite"-Dream Theater
10-"Perfect Symmetry"-Fates Warning
11-"Flow"-Conception
12-"State of Mind"-Elegy
13-"The Divine Wings of Tragedy"-Symphony X
14-"Tyranny"-Shadow Gallery
15-"Burn the Sun"-ARK
16-"In Search of Truth"-Evergrey
17-"Far Off Grace"-Vanden Plas
18-"The Devil's Hall of Fame"-Beyond Twilight
19-"Paradox"-Royal Hunt
20-"Transcendence"-Crimson Glory
Ma ci sono tante bands minori interessanti e bands da culto come Cynic,Mekong Delta,Watchtower,Sieges Even,Voivod,Magellan,Spiral Architect e molte altre(anche i gruppi nati come estremi poi divenuti Progressive come gli Enslaved,Lunaris,Emperor etc).Ovviamente io ho posto l'accento più sul Prog Melodico,"Golden";-)
Saluti e quando vuoi mi piacerebbe anche fare un'intervista se ti va ad un anno e mezzo quasi da"Golden Metal"e in previsione del nuovo album.
Antonio
Grande Giorgio! Ho quel libro sul progressive Metal ed è interessante. Mi piace molto la tua lista, direi che è perfetta in quanto rispecchia quasi nella sua totalità anche i miei gusti personali. Si, una intervista ce la facciamo, buona idea. Grazie per il tuo prezioso intervento e un abbraccio.
EliminaContento che ti piaccia la lista:-) Noto una certa affinità,a presto!!!
EliminaDa amante dei Sabbath nel periodo d'0ro del genere vissuto appieno(e quando ancora i dischi vendevano e bene)avevo un debole per la scena svedese di bands che univano il Gothic/Doom/Classic Metal della band di Iommi con il sound complesso e raffinato dei DT e Queensryche(i Fates Warning sono stati sempre meno amati da molte bands minori,solo bands come gli Zero Hour,i Mystic Force & i Redemption erano più influenzati da loro,questi ultimi per ovvi motivi visto che c'era Ray Alder alla voce ma alla fine suonano più DT)e quindi i vari Abstrakt Algebra(di Leif Edling dei grandi Candlemass e molti altri progetti),i primi Tad Morose e Lion's Share,i Memento Mori,i Fifth Reason,gli Hexenhaus etc Sarebbe interessante fare addirittura un libro a quattro mani con i dischi fondamentali(tipo 100 dischi e cose del genere)...ma è solo un'idea:-)
RispondiElimina