Prog rock affinity

SteveG wrote: Yes, but it's time to stop talking about it and get back to the topic.

Right on 

Furthermore, the means by which an artist displays "progressive" leanings may vary according to the presence of one (or more) of the following features:

(1) complex, often lengthy, compositions

(2) virtuostic performances

(3) exotic and/or eclectic instrumentation

The Beatles' release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band, represented a watershed development in the development of the genre. In retrospect, examples of progressive rock can be identified as existing prior to that album's appearance in June 1967, ranging from Elvis Presley's early rockabilly experiments to the Byrds' folk rock classics recorded between 1965-1967. However, post-Sgt. Pepper works tended to exude a seriousness of purpose (i.e., the consideration of aesthetics over the commercial marketplace) hitherto relegated to the jazz and classical music sectors. The emergence of rock journalism, largely built around young intellectuals who had grown up listening to rock 'n' roll and other popular music genres, helped to spread the gospel of highbrow rock art. The youth subculture, then preoccupied with weighty social matters such as civil rights and the anti-Vietnam War movement, wholeheartedly bought into the concept.

The concept album represented a notable subgenre within the progressive rock movement. In view of the increased profit-making potential of the long-playing twelve-inch record (which generally included ten to fourteen songs and ranged in length from thirty to fifty minutes) over forty-five r.p.m. singles, record companies concentrated their promotional efforts toward establishing the l.p. as the primary mode of aesthetic expression within the rock scene. Accordingly, rock musicians began experimenting with ways of presenting a unified thematic message (both in the music and song lyrics) within the framework of a record album.