Neo-progressive, new guidelines

Some news from the Neo-Progressive team: We have worked out a new definition for the genre, which have been officially approved and has been implemented. In case anyone is interested, our redefined guidelines goes as follows:

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Neo-Progressive rock (more commonly “Neo-Prog”) is a subgenre of Progressive Rock that originally was used to describe artists strongly influenced by the classic symphonic prog bands that flourished during the 1970s. At the beginning of the neo-prog movement, the primary influence was early to mid-70's Genesis. Debate over when Neo-Prog actually came into being often takes place, with some asserting it began with Marillion's Script for a Jester’s Tear in 1983. Others contend it began with Twelfth Night at the dawn of the 80s, while some even suggest the popular symphonic prog band Genesis gave rise to Neo-Prog with their 1976 album, A Trick of the Tail.
 
If one analyses the progressive movement just before 1980, then some albums which heavily influenced the Neo-Prog movement easily come to mind: Steve Hackett - Spectral Mornings, Genesis - Wind & Wuthering, Genesis - And Then There Were Three, Genesis - Seconds Out, Saga - Saga, all the Camel albums between Breathless and The Single Factor included,  and some Eloy's albums, especially Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes.
 
This new form of progressive rock originated in the UK, and is most strongly associated with bands such as Marillion, Pendragon and IQ; and while theatrical stage antics were a part of the live performances of many artists exploring this subset of the progressive rock genre it's the musical elements that are key to the genre; typified by the use of atmospheric guitar and synth soloing with symphonic leanings, with a tendency towards floating synth layers and dreamy soloing. An additional trait is the use of modern synths rather than vintage analogue synths and keyboards. The main reasons for Neo-Progressive artists to be separated from the ones exploring Symphonic Prog in the first place are the above, as well as a heavier emphasis on song-form and melody than some of their earlier symphonic counterparts.
 
As time went by other artists appeared that also deviated from the norms created by the classic wave of progressive rock artists in the 70's. The late 70's had given the world punk music; the 80's gave the world new wave; and the 90's grunge. These, as well as other forms, had a tremendous amount of influence outside of the progressive rock realm.  The advent of the modern synth also inspired artists like Tomita, Vangelis and Kitaro to explore dreamier musical works.
 
These and other forms of more or less newly made musical genres influenced artists exploring progressive rock as well.  Although many artists did so within the framework of 70's progressive rock, more and more artists developed a sound and style so heavily influenced by these more recent musical developments that categorizing them within the existing subgenres of progressive rock became increasingly difficult.
 
While the Neo-Progressive genre initially consisted of artists exploring a modernized version of Symphonic Prog, these days artists coined as Neo-Progressive cover a multitude of musical expressions, where the common denominator is the inclusion - within a progressive rock framework - of musical elements developed just prior to and after 1980.   The Neo-Progressive genre in it's refined form thus covers a vast musical territory, to some extent covering all existing subsets of progressive rock and also searching out towards genres as different as new age on one side and punk and metal on the other.


Opening paragraphs written by Stonebeard, Cygnus X-2, Greenback
Revised, edited and refined April 2009 by windhawk, The Doctor and E-Dub


Edited by Windhawk - July 27 2009 at 05:46

Thanks Neo-team for making progress in our prog thought and knowledge.
Great work!

Thanks

-Joel

In terms of stylistic expression, your musical style was thought to fit marginally better in the Neo-Prog category than in the others.
A few years ago it would probably have been labelled art rock.

Feel free to contact any of the other genre specialist teams if you want them to consider moving you to their part of the progarchives - click the genre names on the frontpage, and the team members of that particular genre can be found at the bottom of the page; with a menu giving the choice to send a personal message :-)

Corresponds nicely with paragraphs 3 - 6 of the new Neo definition, actually ;-)

I salute the expanded Neo Prog, but I must ask one question: how to carefully allocate ehm... interchangeability with Crossover Prog?

I mean, in the very core Neo Prog is a form of rock music often resembling its Symphonic Prog origins in dense and compact form with high production values.

In essence, Crossover Prog is Art Rock often stepping in more traditional pop rock structures.

They're both having high degree of eclecticism. Nowadays they're both sharing (as other forms of prog as well) a rich pedigree of potential influences, varying from punk& new wave, AOR, metal to new age and electronica. As music is constantly evolving, subgenres are spreading away from the core.

I'm asking this because my knowledge of the genre is anything but deep, and I would appreciate any answers. Please keep in mind this is by no means a negative criticism - in fact, this widened definition is a great answer to all neo-haters that Neo-Prog is one of the many members of large Prog family, constantly changing, evolving and pushing forward

Generally, I'd push music with more typical mainstream musical tendencies over to the Crossover team myself. But there's no denying the fact that part of the reason for the definition change here was to be able to include bands that fell between the cracks - artists generally thought to belong here that due to one reason or another isn't seen to belong in the other subs. We will usually take them rather than witness prolonged sessions of pass the ball.

next step - getting neo prog the respect it deserves !