The 1st use of the phrase "progressive rock" (Jimi)

[Adrian]

^ I remember hearing Chris Squire say in a few interviews around that time that Yes was the first "alternative" band ... back when "alternative" was the label getting slapped on so much popular music.

I think Henry summed it up best in his post. Whatever the music was originally called, and whatever bands and artists were originally considered part of the movement, the retronym "prog" has become a useful general descriptor for a type of music we all enjoy here. Some bands may fit within the label more neatly than others, but ultimately it's not something worth arguing about.

[Firth]

Although it was already suggested that Pink Floyd is the archetypal prog-rock band (”Pink Floyd: The Prog Rock Archetype”, 08 May 2013), an equally compelling case could be made for King Crimson. By practically any criteria, King Crimson has always epitomized everything we talk about when we talk about prog. Only more so.

From their first album, which remains the Rosetta Stone of progressive rock, to their four decade-plus career making music, King Crimson looms large and remains impossible to ignore. While the title track of their debut, In the Court of the Crimson King is still the purest and most perfect expression of the prog-rock aesthetic, it’s the sheer depth and breadth of their catalog that inspires a singular awe. The Dark Side of the Moon is the Sgt. Pepper of prog, but In the Court of the Crimson King is The Beatles on Ed Sullivan: a pivotal moment that announced a new reality. After 1969, nothing was, or could ever be, quite the same.

http://www.popmatters.com/column/173...ck-case-study/

[Firth]

^ I remember hearing Chris Squire say in a few interviews around that time that Yes was the first "alternative" band ... back when "alternative" was the label getting slapped on so much popular music.

I think Henry summed it up best in his post. Whatever the music was originally called, and whatever bands and artists were originally considered part of the movement, the retronym "prog" has become a useful general descriptor for a type of music we all enjoy here. Some bands may fit within the label more neatly than others, but ultimately it's not something worth arguing about.

That's Squire ego speaking. The word alternative is generic, and the band Yes was being influenced by the summer of Love and 1967, when alternative was really born.

[Adrian]

That's Squire ego speaking. The word alternative is generic, and the band Yes was being influenced by the summer of Love and 1967, when alternative was really born.

Oh, I know. I'm not saying I bought in to Squire's characterization. He was clearly just trying to capitalize on a popular term at the time. It goes to show how malleable all these labels can be. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, back in the '80s there was a college station where I lived that featured things like 10,000 Maniacs and REM -- and they proclaimed that they were playing "progressive rock." That was actually my first exposure to the label -- when it was used in reference to bands that I guess would today be considered the forerunners of what came to be known as "alternative" music. Depeche Mode, Ultravox, OMD, that kind of thing.

[ronmac]

If "Freak Out" wasn't alternative, I don't know what was.

[Firth]

Oh, I know. I'm not saying I bought in to Squire's characterization. He was clearly just trying to capitalize on a popular term at the time. It goes to show how malleable all these labels can be. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, back in the '80s there was a college station where I lived that featured things like 10,000 Maniacs and REM -- and they proclaimed that they were playing "progressive rock." That was actually my first exposure to the label -- when it was used in reference to bands that I guess would today be considered the forerunners of what came to be known as "alternative" music. Depeche Mode, Ultravox, OMD, that kind of thing.

I recall that use of the term progressive. Too bad college stations seemed to be dominated by AAA (Adult Alternative Acoustic) now. It's as if the faculty and older community are the drivers. In the north of Baltimore there was a college station, WCVT which was in the late 70s (perhaps before but I didn't live there then) that played prog. At that time in Baltimore, the big FM rock stations were burnt out, playing the same classic tunes from the 60s and a lot of Clapton, and maybe the chosen pop tunes from Genesis etc.

[Firth]

If "Freak Out" wasn't alternative, I don't know what was.

Dude Freak out was underground. Alternative should be reserved for 80s and on.

[ronmac]

Dude Freak out was underground. Alternative should be reserved for 80s and on.

Dude,

Alternative - Employing or following nontraditional or unconventional ideas, methods, etc.; existing outside the establishment: an alternative newspaper; alternative lifestyles.

[strawberrybrick]

the retronym "prog"

I like that.

Although it was already suggested that Pink Floyd is the archetypal prog-rock band (”Pink Floyd: The Prog Rock Archetype”, 08 May 2013),

I'll never accept Pink Floyd being labeled a "prog rock" band.

Progressive? yes, Underground?, sure, Psychedelic?, absolutely! Prog? No, not really.
But I digress.

[Firth]

Dude,

Alternative - Employing or following nontraditional or unconventional ideas, methods, etc.; existing outside the establishment: an alternative newspaper; alternative lifestyles.

Incorrect context. In the context of non-mainstream rock music, alternative means post new wave non-mainstream rock music. You could quote progressive's definition too, but it does not apply in this context.

Main Entry: 1pro·gres·sive
Pronunciation: \prə-ˈgre-siv\
Function: adjective
Date: circa 1612
1 a : of, relating to, or characterized by progress b : making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities c : of, relating to, or constituting an educational theory marked by emphasis on the individual child, informality of classroom procedure, and encouragement of self-expression 2 : of, relating to, or characterized by progression 3 : moving forward or onward : advancing 4 a : increasing in extent or severity <a progressive disease> b : increasing in rate as the base increases <a progressive tax> 5 often capitalized : of or relating to political Progressives 6 : of, relating to, or constituting a verb form that expresses action or state in progress at the time of speaking or a time spoken of 7 : of, relating to, or being a multifocal lens with a gradual transition between focal lengths <progressive bifocals> 8 : or, relating to, or using a method of video scanning (as for television or a computer monitor) in which the horizontal lines of each frame are drawn successively from top to bottom — compare interlaced.

[Vic2012]

nerd fight! nerd fight! ..................

[ronmac]

Incorrect context. In the context of non-mainstream rock music, alternative means post new wave non-mainstream rock music. You could quote progressive's definition too, but it does not apply in this context.

I'm not going to get into a pissing contest about it, even though that's the PE way. I made a statement that one could consider "Freak Out" alternative, which I meant in the literal sense of the word, not necessarily the post-punk, post-new-wave, pre-retro definition.

nerd fight! nerd fight! ..................

[Firth]

I'm not going to get into a pissing contest about it, even though that's the PE way. I made a statement that one could consider "Freak Out" alternative, which I meant in the literal sense of the word, not necessarily the post-punk, post-new-wave, pre-retro definition.

What's wrong with a good PEeing contest. BTW I don't consider this a serious debate, this is all in jest IMO.

[ronmac]

What's wrong with a good PEeing contest. BTW I don't consider this a serious debate, this is all in jest IMO.

No worries. Me, too, bro.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Dude Freak out was underground. Alternative should be reserved for 80s and on.

"Underground": psych and freakbeat 1965-1967
"Progressive": 'symphonic', art- and experimental rock 1968-1979
"Alternative": post-punk, goth, industrial and (much) actual new wave 1980-88 (approx.)
"Indie/independent": shoegazing, neo-psych, 'dream pop', noise rock, grunge etc. 1989-

Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, Stryper, Mariah Carey et al.: not the above.

[zravkapt]

Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, Stryper, Mariah Carey et al.: not the above.

Surface Regressive Conventional Major label