The Progressive Rock Handbook

THE PROGRESSIVE ROCK HANDBOOK

By JERRY LUCKY

• Publisher: Independent Publishers Group
  
• Originally Released in: 2008

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Progressive-Rock-Handbook-Jerry-Lucky/dp/1894959760
http://www.apogeespacebooks.com/Books/handbook.html

There’s a huge gallery of books published about the history / legacy of progressive rock but this one has a special place in the genre. First of all this book represents a truly exhaustive practical guide with no intention to reach the analytic approach of musicology. The perspective is totally different and is partly focused on critical viewpoints, historical situations and aesthetic / stylistical meanings about bands musical repertoire. The author Jerry Lucky is a music historian with long experience writing about the ontology of rock music (from psychedelic to progressive). The Progressive Rock Handbook is a consistent, objective and comprehensive work about the musical genre. After an introduction explaining the motives of the author in doing this writing project, the book presents an historical overview about the different stages of progressive rock musical development, including short stories and tales on particular, legendary bands. Then come very incisive and useful critics about the formation of the progressive rock musical label. These first sections are punctuated by illustrative and singular experiences of the author with the music and with people he met in the musical business. Jerry Lucky thoughts are very generous, positive about progressive music of the past and nowadays.  He seems to voluntary refuse the dominant discourses about the progressive rock movement and decides to adopt an eclectical mind position. The substantial sections about historical / critical dimensions are followed by an impressive and major dictionary listing and detailing bands’ musical culture, mentioning representative discographical elements. It carefully covers all progressive rock subgenres from the most “canonical” classic ones (Symphonic prog, art rock, prog metal) to the most obscure-esoteric ones (Krautrock, progressive electronic, Zheul). The practical, handbook aspect of this work is associated with the instructive and informative lines about places to purchase, specialised websites, music festivals (...). This edition is also accompanied by an exclusive CD sampler.

 To sum up things, “The progressive rock Handbook” represents a welcome amount of work. It’s a valuable resource in attempting to connect the conventional format of guide book with particular points and perspectives.  I highly recommend this book for both beginners and specialists.

Philippe Blache


Edited by philippe - August 08 2008 at 07:02

CG Publishing provided two reviewing copies. Philippe got there first, but here's my review to provide more info.


Progressive Rock Handbook, Jerry Lucky. CG Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-18949-59766

A book of opinions - if ever there was one...

When I started writing this review, Prog Archives contained information about (according to the main page) 3,692 bands & artists. This book contains information about over 3200 - and as such may well represent Prog Archives as it would have been without the internet, if only for the fact that it is mainly the work of one man, a broadcaster and music historian by the name of Jerry Lucky. Because of the limitations of man kind, Jerry decided to stick with (often very brief) biographies of the bands, and a listing of studio album titles and release years - in doing so creating the prog reference he so dearly missed as a radio station owner and host of a Progressive Rock radio show in the early 1980s. You know, the kind of background information such as which musician joined which band, what they did in the past and who influenced them - as a guide to listeners who are interested in finding more bands that play the music they like best.

This by itself wouldn't be very interesting to most readers, especially in the internet age, where a lot of this information can also be found on web sites. That is why in this book - being the fourth revision of what was first released as black and white stapled copies, and later as The Progressive Rock Files - this A-Z listing is preceded by seven commentaries that Jerry Lucky published on the internet earlier, mostly reflecting his own views rather than 'common truth'. In these commentaries. luck touches upon the role of critics and 'hot shots' in the music industry. He clearly indicates the difference between reviewers and critics, as well as the focus of the 'hot shots' on money rather than quality - not forgetting the impact this has on the prog niche. I can't deny agreeing to what he writes there, especially when it comes to the overly every present focus on 'originality' amongst critics. A good source of inspiration for aspiring critics or Prog Reviewers.

A second part of the commentaries I really enjoyed reading deals with 13! reasons why Neo Prog should never have been defined as a separate sub genre of Prog. This succeeds an overview of the definition of the various prog genres (which is limited to 26 sub genres in two levels in Lucky's view) - all based on the way they cover (a subset of) 10 characteristics of prog similar to that which Prog Archives and other sources use. Neo Prog is 100% Symphonic Prog in the mind of Jerry Lucky, and the 13 arguments he presents are quite convincing. An interesting read.

Next to the commentaries, Lucky provides a list of books, magazines and web sites on Prog - which is of course never complete, but a good starting point for searching the internet. A good observation is made here that each web site has it's own focus within the huge space that is called Prog, and that for a good overview, it is recommended to visit more than one site regularly.
Less interesting as a reference, but fun to read is the list of arguments that a prog fan can use to convince others that prog is not weird and that it's not bad music.

To top it off, the book comes with a CD sampler containing 13 tracks of amongst others Sylvan, Rocket Scientists and Invisigoth.

Overall, I very much appreciate this book - the almost 70 pages of commentaries and went down in one evening and comes across as well thought through, even if a bit repetitive at times. This repetitiveness is likely caused by the fact that this is a compilation of internet publications that were published individually at different times on http://www.jerrylucky.com. Even if not everyone will agree with all of Jerry Lucky's opinions, they are solidly motivated based on 30 years of experience as a radio host and listener of progressive rock.I learned something on every page.
I learned something on every page, and consider this book a useful reference to have at hand at those moments the computer is turned of or out of reach (remember those times?). As such it is not essential, but definitely far from worthless - on PA rating scales I'd suggest 3 stars: not essential, but a good companion for any prog fan.

(Thanks to Ric Connors of CG Publishing for providing a review copy of the book)