Trollheart's Journey through Prog Rock history

Put another way,  the seeds that had been sown were beginning to grow,  but would still need a whole lot of sunshine before they could bear any fruit. Once they did, though, everyone would want a taste! Here then are some of the important bands that got together this year.

Note: as this gets a little closer to the sort of prog rock I’m familiar with, I’m introducing a new category, which with typical self-effacement and humility I’m calling “The Trollheart Factor”. This is an indication of how well, if at all, I know and am familiar with the artiste in question, and how qualified I am therefore to speak about them. I’ll also add this to album reviews, as even though I may know some artistes well, there may be albums of theirs I’m not that well versed in.

Further note: since I’ve a pain in my arse writing the word “incarnation” all the time, I’m in future going to indicate each time the band reformed with a Roman numeral (bein’ a bit of a pretentious git), so the original lineup will be (i), a reformed one (ii), the next (iii) and so on, put after the relevant years.

Third (final?) note: Although many of these albums/bands will be dealt with, there's no guarantee I will get to feature each and every one, so bear with me as you join me on my travels.

Amon Düül II (1968 – )

Nationality: German

Original lineup: Chris Karrer, Dieter Serfas, Falk Rogner, John Weinzierl and Renate Knaup

First relevant album: Phallus Dei

Impact: 6

The Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked to:

Progenitors of what would become known as Krautrock, Amon Düül II grew up out of a hippy commune in Germany, where the music really originally came second to paying the bills to keep the camp open. Apparently in the beginning they worked really hard - ”The band played almost every day” according to Wiemzierl. “We played universities, academies, underground clubs, and every hall with a power socket and an audience.” No X-Factor sudden fame then!

Art Zoyd (1968 - )

Nationality: French

Original lineup: Gerard Hourbette

First relevant album: Symphonie pour le jour où brûleront les cités, 1976

Impact: ?

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with:

French avant-garde, free jazz and experimental band that seems to have been under the direction of one man, the abovenamed Gerard Hourbette. Part of the Rock In Opposition movement.

Brainbox (1969-1972, 2004 - )

Nationality: Dutch

Original lineup: Jan Akkerman, Pierre van der Linden, Kazimir Lux

First relevant album: Brainbox, 1969

Impact: 4

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with: Focus

Most famous as the launching board for Focus, Brainbox released three albums(including, weirdly, a “Best of” after just one album!) before they split in 1972. They reunited in 2004 and have since released another two albums plus a live one, the last being put out in 2011.

Can (1968 - 1979, (i)1986 - 1989 (ii))

Nationality: German

Original lineup: Michael Karoli (RIP), Jaki Lebezeit, Irmin Schmidt, Holger Czukay, David C. Johnson, Malcolm Mooney

First relevant album: Monster Movie, 1969

Impact: 9

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with:

Another band instrumental in the Krautrock era, Can are one of the most well-remembered and artistes from Joy Division and The Fall to Bowie and Talking Heads cite them as an influence on their music, with Brian Eno composing a short movie in tribute to them. Although they disbanded in 1972 they reunited fourteen years later to record one more album. There were sporadic other appearances by them over the years, but since these usually concerned recording a track or a live performance I’m not counting them. They remain however a huge influence right across the music world, from jazz to avant-garde to electronica and of course prog rock.

Caravan (1968 - 1978 (i) 1980 - 1985 (ii) 1990 -1992 (iii) 1995 - (iv))

Nationality: British

Original lineup: David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye  Hastings, Richard Coughlan (RIP)

First relevant album: Caravan, 1968

Impact: 8

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with: Soft Machine, The Wilde Flowers

One of the premier bands in what would become known as the Canterbury Scene, Caravan were not a commercially successful band, but then, a large percentage of prog rock bands can say the same thing, and the real success lies in the legacy they leave behind and the bands they influenced.

Deep Purple (1968 - 1975)

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Rod Evans, Nick Simper, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore

First relevant album: Shades of Deep Purple, 1968 (but really Deep Purple in Rock, 1970)

Impact: 3

The  Trollheart Factor: 5

Linked with: Rainbow, Whitesnake, Ian Gillan Band, Roundabout

What? You no doubt say as you read the brackets in disbelief: Purple lasted only till 1976? Idiot! They were around for a whole lot longer than that! They're still around now! Well, yes, but as they're primarily known as a heavy rock/heavy metal band, I'm basing the activity span on the years they were playing prog rock, which ended in 1974 with Stormbringer, though there is something of a case for Come Taste the Band, released in 1975. Feel free to debate it with me, but let me reiterate before you do that I don’t really want to get bogged down too much exploring or talking about bands who were more or less just on the fringes of the progressive rock scene and who made their name in other spheres, and this certainly applies to them. But they began as prog rock and it might (might, depending on how many albums were released in this year) be interesting to see the direction they had originally been heading in. So I think I'm justified in only recording their active years above as the times when they played what could be termed progressive rather than hard rock.

Henry Cow (1968 - 1978)

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Tim Hodgkinson, Fred Frith, Lindsay Cooper, Chris Cutler

First relevant album: Legend, 1973

Impact: ?

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with:

One of the few British RIO bands, Henry Cow seemed determined to stay out of the mainstream, even of progressive rock, and they seemed to compose their music by committee, having actual meetings where they thrashed out the ideas and decided which ones to use and which to discard. Their music has been described as inaccessible, overcomplicated and brilliantly innovative.

King Crimson (1968 - 1974 (i) 1981-1984 (ii) 1994 - 2004 (iii) 2007 - 2008 (iv) 203 - (v))

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Robert Fripp, Peter Sinfield, Greg Lake, Ian MacDonald

First relevant album: In the Court of the Crimson King, 1969

Impact: 10

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with: A host of acts, including but not limited to 21st Century Schizoid Band, ProjeKCts, UK, Giles, Giles and Fripp, Crimson Jazz Trio and Porcupine Tree

One of the true giants of the progressive rock scene, King Crimson bestrode the movement like a colossus. Or so I’m told. Personally, I’ve never heard anything by them, and while this may be reason in some people’s minds to nail me living to a Hammond, I readily admitted when I began this journey that there were prog rock bands, many of them considered essential to the genre, whom I had not heard, and Crimson are one of them. Needless to say, I’ll be redressing that here. Driven by the genius and some would say tyranny of founder Robert Fripp, King Crimson shied from the pop song, or melodies too easy to play, and they certainly did not seem to court (sorry) chart success. Yet they have remained both one of the most influential bands not only in progressive rock but in music as a whole, and continue to confound their critics, still rocking after over forty-five years.

Rush (1968 - )

Nationality: Canadian

Original lineup: Geddy Lee, Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson

First relevant album: Fly by Night, 1975

Impact: 9

The  Trollheart Factor: 7

Linked with:

Beginning life as a blues rock band with their debut album, Rush soon began incorporating fantasy lyrics and themes into their music with the release of their second album, and quickly identified with the progressive rock crowd. One of the first, if not the first, progressive rock bands to come out of Canada, they have remained with pretty much the same lineup since 1974, always a power trio, and singer Geddy Lee has become famous for his high-pitched, often falsetto vocals. Rush released some of the most seminal prog rock albums of the seventies, including 2112, Caress of Steel, A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres.

The United States of America (1967 - 1968)

Nationality: American

Original lineup:  Joseph Byrd, Dorothy Moskowitz, Gordon Marron, Rand Forbes, Crai Woodson, Ed Bogas

First relevant album: The United States of America, 1968

Impact: ?

The  Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked with:

These poor guys split after recording only one album. Despite being the only band at the time I know of (as if that means anything!) to use instruments like calliope, harpsichord, fretless bass and electric violin, and not have any guitars at all, tensions within the band led to their disbanding a year after they got together. Their single album has however gone down in the annals of the history of prog rock, psychedelic music and avant-garde rock, it says here.

Yes (1968 - 1981 (i) 1984 - 2004 (ii) 2008 - (iii)

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Jon Anderson, Chris Squires, Peter Banks, Tony Kaye, Bill Bruford

First relevant album: Yes, 1969

Impact: 10

The  Trollheart Factor: 6

Linked with: The Buggles, The Syn, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Asia

Another giant of the genre, Yes built their appeal and their fame on intricate keyboard passages, long, multi-part songs, and the soaring soprano voice of Jon Anderson. Some of their songs took up one full side of an album (Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans) and as a result, though hugely popular in the seventies they became identified as one of the bands against whom the punk rock backlash hit out, calling music such as they played pompous, overblown, and irrelevant. Well, they probably called it pretentious sh*te, but we’re not going to say that here.

Nevertheless, many artistes prominent in the subgenre have stated him as an influence, and I guess it must be accepted that he was part of the push towards a more experimental, loose and improvisational attitude towards music, turning away from the basic rock and roll of the late fifties/early sixties and incorporating elements of jazz, blues, soul and the emerging psychedelia into compositions. The title of this blog is I know what I like, and I know what I don't, but in fairness I can't just listen to what I like here. This is the history of progressive rock, and there will undoubtedly be bands and artistes in there that I don't care for, but who will have to be reviewed and spoken of anyway. Guess "the Big Z" is one of those. Let's get this over with then.

Released as, as mentioned above, a kind of anti-Sgt Peppers, The Mothers' second album featured a lot of instrumental music which appeared on Zappa's solo effort, Lumpy Gravy, which I had originally intended to cover but then backed out of (chicken gravy?), and both are seen as part of a trilogy, completed by Cruising with Ruben and the Jets, released at the end of the year, all to be tied together under the banner title of No Commercial Potential. Indeed.

Album title: We're only in it for the money

Artiste: The Mothers of Invention

Nationality: American

Label: Verve

Year: 1968

Grade: C

Previous Experience of this Artiste: Freak Out!

The Trollheart Factor: 1

Landmark value: Seen to be striking a blow against what was becoming to be seen as the overcommercialisation of music, and specifically against The Beatles, it's seen as a landmark album. I'll reserve judgement until I've heard it.

Tracklisting: Are you hung up?/ Who needs the Peace Corps?/ Concentration Moon/ Mom and dad/ Telephone conversation/ Bow tie daddy/ Harry, you're a beast/ What's the ugliest part of your body?/ Absolutely free/ Flower punk/ Hot poop/ Nasal retentive calliope music/ Let's make the water turn black/ The idiot b*****d son/ Lonely little girl/ Take your clothes off when you dance/ What's the ugliest part of your body? (Reprise)/ Mother people/ The chrome plated megaphone of destiny

Comments: Okay, so the usual spoken-word nonsense I've come to associate Zappa and to a lesser extent Beefheart with gets us under way, not exactly helping my attempts to be unbiased towards this album. At least there's music for the second track, and you can certainly see where they're sl*g.ing off the Fab Four here. Hey you know it's not bad. Like the humour: ”I will love everybody/ I will love the police/ As they're kicking the sh*t out of me.” “Concentration moon” is decent too, as is “Mom and dad”. This is a lot more, um, musical than I had expected, I must say! “Telephone conversation” is exactly what it says on the tin, which does not surprise me. Seems to be a 911 call though, which is interesting. “Bow tie daddy” is like a twenties song, but I actually like it. Mind you, it's only seconds long.

There's a lovely classical piano intro to “Harry, you're a beast”, and it's a good enough track to be fair. I know they're kind of sl*g.ing off the Beatles and psychedelic pop here, so maybe that's why it sounds so, ah, palatable to me? But either way, it's turning out to me a far more enjoyable experience than I expected. “Flower punk” is funny, ripping off “Hey Joe”, then it's like Vangelis's Beauborg (huh? Educate yourself man!) for “Nasal retentive calliope music” - just weird to the max. Most of the album though is (dare I say it) listenable and decent music. Colour me surprised.

Favourite track(s): (Did not expect to be filling this in at all but as it happens...) Who needs the Peace Corps, Concentration moon, Mom and dad, Harry, you're a beast, Let's make the water turn black, Flower punk, Lonely girl, The idiot b*****d son, Take your clothes off when you dance

Least favourite track(s): (And this is a lot less populated than I expected it to be...) Hot poop, Nasal retentive calliope music, Mother people, The chrome plated megaphone of destiny

Overall impression: A lot of strange sounds but apart from that and the odd backward-masking effect, not at all bad really. I know: I'm surprised too!

Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

Final Rating:

All that said, there's no question that it was albums like Piper at the Gates of Dawn and this one that got Floyd originally noticed, and so they should not, cannot and will not be pushed into the dark recesses of the history of prog rock; I will not pretend they don't exist and I won't look down my nose at them, but neither to me really represent the Floyd I grew up on and came to love. At the time of their second album though, the association with Barrett was grinding to a juddering and uneasy halt, and Dave Gilmour was brought in initially to help out, for those times when Barrett didn't feel like or couldn't contribute, whether in the studio or onstage. He worked out so well that before the album was even completed Gilmour was already seen as the fourth member of what was technically a quintet at the time, and Barrett and Pink Floyd soon parted ways. Though they wrote tributes to him on later albums, and he arrived at the studio once to watch them play (so completely unrecognisable that the band members took some time to realise it was him) Barrett was never again involved in Floyd and though he attempted a solo career it floundered, after which he basically retired from music. Floyd, of course, would go from strength to strength, achieving world domination status, but always touched by the inner sadness that their friend could not share it with them, and be part of it.

Album title: A Saucerful of Secrets

Artiste: Pink Floyd

Nationality: British

Label: EMI

Year: 1968

Grade: A

Previous Experience of this Artiste: See entry on Piper at the Gates of Dawn

The Trollheart Factor: 7

Landmark value: Although not the sort of Floyd I was used to, this album did feature Gilmour for the first time, led to the departure of Barrett and set the stage for the proper coming of Pink Floyd.

Tracklisting: Let there be more light/ Remember a day/ Set the controls for the heart of the sun/ Corporal Clegg/ A saucerful of secrets (i)Something else (ii) Syncopated pandemonium (iii) Storm signal (iv) Celestial voices (iv)

Comments: It's kind of like something out of Vangelis's playbook as we start off, with a racing, pulsing synth and bass running things, a sound like a sitar occasionally coming through though I doubt they used one at this point, then it breaks down into what would later become a fairly recognised Floyd melody before the vocals from Roger Waters start. My first thought is that this is a lot more what I would call progressive rock than the previous, debut album, and this may be reflected in the fact that Waters writes or co-writes every track here bar two, one being the closer. There's little of the folk/hippies aspect of Piper to this, so far, that album having been largely led I assume by Barrett and the way he wanted the band to go.

Good interplay between the guitar and keys here, though in fairness as both Gilmour and Barrett played on the album I can't say who it is on the frets. “Remember a day” has a timeless, spacey feel to it with some fine piano work from Wright. The vocal is very sparse, only a few words all through the whole thing, almost making of it an instrumental, then I and everyone else know the superb “Set the controls for the heart of the sun”, a song which would go on to be included in their stage set for years, even decades to come, and which really put them in the frame as a space-rock band. With almost Ray Manzarekesque keys sort of low in the background, the vocals also hushed, the whole thing giving a sense of dark, gripping tension, danger and a feel of adventure about it.

“Corporal Clegg” then is the first really out-and-out rock track, sort of sounds like Beatles/Kinks. Not crazy about it, but it does highlight what would go on to become recognisable as the famous Floyd vocal harmonies that would surface on albums from Dark Side onwards. I guess it's fun, I just don't dig it as much as the other tracks I've heard so far. Then we're into the three-part suite that makes up the title track. Again, it's spacey, a bit unnerving in ways and very psychedelic. Could sort of see it having been the theme to a horror movie maybe. Probably gets a little improvisational for me: I can see this being repeated on the side-long “Echoes” on Meddle. I wasn't crazy about a lot of that. Much of this is discordant piano notes and weird synth noises; not really for me. It's a bit long too, at nearly twelve minutes. Actually, the end section is really good --- “Celestial voices”?

“See saw”, the only track written by Rick Wright, is really nice, has a sense of seventies ELO about it. Yes, I know that should be the other way around. Really like this. Nice gentle ballad which, actually now I think about it, really reminds of the Alan Parsons Project. Shut up. The only Barrett song then is the closer, “Jugband blues”, which I expected not to like and don't: it's more of the psych/hippy sh*t I didn't enjoy on much of Piper.

Favourite track(s): Let there be more light, Remember a day, Set the controls for the heart of the sun, Seesaw

Least favourite track(s): A saucerful of secrets, Jugband blues

Overall impression: A far better album than Piper, one that points the way towards the direction Floyd were going in and certainly an album more deserving of the term “progressive rock” than its predecessor.

Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

Final Rating:

Album title: In Search of the Lost Chord

Artiste: The Moody Blues

Nationality: British

Label: Deram Records

Year: 1968

Grade: B

Previous Experience of this Artiste: see entry on Days of Future Passed

The Trollheart Factor: 4

Landmark value: I don't see a huge landmark value here to be honest. The use of the ethnic instruments is interesting, and it's another concept album, but why it would be rated above Days of Future Passed I would be hard pressed to say.

Tracklisting: Departure/Ride my see-saw/ Dr. Livingston, I presume/ House of four doors/ Legend of a mind/ House of four doors (part 2)/ Voices in the sky/ The best way to travel/ Visions of Paradise/ The Actor/ The Word/ Om

Comments: “Departure” is a short, forty-five second spoken word piece with rising guitar line pulling it right into “Ride my see-saw”, which I do know. It's a psychedelic rock song, uptempo with a great melody, very catchy. Great vocal harmonies, which would of course become one of the hallmarks of the Moodys. “Dr. Livingston, I presume” is a little Beatles-y I feel, bit vapid, but “House of four doors” is much better, with an ethic, dramatic feel, a slower track that still pops along nicely. Some nice flute from Mike Pinder. Pretty nice harpsichord too. “Legend of a mind” really reminds me of ELO, and yes, again, I know they weren't going at that point. Really slick little hypnotic bass line in this. Lot of stuff about Timothy Leary, in whom I have no interest. Good song though.

“House of four doors (Part 2)” is a slow kind of reprise which reminds me of the Everly Brothers, not mad about it but it's short. The other track I know then is “Voices in the sky”, which features some really nice acoustic guitar and the vocals of Justin Hayward. “The best way to travel” is also acoustic. I have to say, generally I'm not as impressed with this album as I was with the previous one. Not too much of the prog rock in it I feel. Okay, there's some nice kind of spacey keyboard here so it's not bad, but it's still not what I'd call a prog powerhouse or anything close to it. “Visions of Paradise” is a lovely little flute-driven ballad with acoustic guitar, very pastoral and relaxing; you can really hear the sitar here too.

Oh, I forgot: I know “The Actor” too. Nice boppy mid-tempo piece, kind of skips along nicely with again Justin on vocals, then there's another spoken word piece, almost completely unaccompanied, titled, appropriately enough, “The word”, which then leads into the closer, “Om”. It's very Indian, with plenty of sitar and tabla, good vocal harmonies and a very decent closer to what is, I must admit, not the greatest album. Expected a lot more. Bitchin' album sleeve though!

Favourite track(s): Ride my see-saw, House of four doors, Voices in the sky, Visions of Paradise, The Actor, Om

Least favourite track(s): Dr. Livingston, I presume

Overall impression: After “Days of Future Passed I was hoping for a continuation, something at least as good. I find this album something of a minor disappointment if I'm honest.

Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

Final Rating:

Album title: Caravan

Artiste: Caravan

Nationality: English

Label: Decca

Year: 1968

Grade: A

Previous Experience of this Artiste: Zero

The Trollheart Factor: 0

Landmark value: Seen as one of the founding members of The Canterbury Scene, fusing psychedelia, jazz and classical with the emerging prog rock.

Tracklisting: Place of my own/ Ride/ Policeman/ Love song with flute/ Cecil Rons/ Magic man/ Grandma's lawn/ Where but for Caravan would I?

Comments: You can hear the whimsicality spoken of in the piece on TCS as soon as the album opens, and I'm glad to say there are plenty of keys - never really consider a band totally prog without a few keyboards - musicianship is excellent as demonstrated by the instrumental break that takes most of the latter part of “Place of my own”, vocals from Pye Hastings are very easy on the ear and you can hear where Supertramp were going to tread later. “Ride” begins in much the same vein, soft and gentle before the guitar crashes through and another extended instrumental kicks off. I like the mix of a very easy, relaxed vocal with harder guitars and crashing drums, though I hear little keyboard here. It's all over “Policeman” though, honking and trumpeting in a somewhat Beatles-style tune, some great organ pounding its way sonorously through the tune, which appears to be the first full instrumental.

“Love song with a flute” is a slow ballad, as you might expect, with warbling keys and, well, flute, a nice sort of echoey vocal on it. Ramps up a little, rather unexpectedly, halfway through, the organ coming in much more forcefully (yes, yes, tee-hee) then “Cecil Rons” is the first one that sounds not only psych but also sort of threatening, ominous with a staccato drumbeat and kind of warped keyboard line. Little unsettling, almost seems out of place beside the rest of the album so far. “Magic man” is a really nice laidback folky style song with acoustic guitar and some nice organ work, very relaxing. Man. “Grandma's lawn” is pretty trippy, with the vocal again buried deep in the mix so that it sounds like it's being sung at the bottom of a well or something; great keyboard line, and then the closer is a nine-minute monster.

A soft gentle guitar line opens “Where but for Caravan would I” with an equally gentle vocal in a slow ballad with rising organ then kicks up with a good instrumental break carried mostly by said organ. It finishes well but is I feel overlong.

Favourite track(s): Place of my own, Ride, Policeman, Love song with a flute, Magic man

Least favourite track(s): Grandma's garden, Cecil Rons

Overall impression: A very good album but I would venture to think they have better. Not a bad introduction though into this Canterbury Scene stuff.

Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

Final Rating:

So far we've dealt mainly with bands I either know and like, or have no experience of, but now we come to one I know, and do not like. I have never been able to get into Jethro Tull's particular mix of prog rock and semi-medieval music; it just never sat well with me, and unless there is a real miracle during this journal I doubt it ever will. Nevertheless, they're a big player in the subgenre and so must be covered.

Another of the British bands formed out of grammar school friends, Jethro Tull initially began as a blues band, but when frontman Ian Anderson feared he was in danger of being squeezed out of the limelight by the lead guitarist, as he could not play as well, he switched to a more interesting instrument, and so became th focus of the band as he cavorted madly onstage playing a flute. Few other bands at this time featured this instrument, so it was a good gimmick and certainly earned them rave reviews.

Their first album, like the debuts of many of the bands featured here, was a far cry from the music they would become known for. Based more on blues standards and covers, it would be another year before they would make it big with their second album hitting the number one spot, although this did make a very respectable showing at number ten.

Album title: This was

Artiste: Jethro Tull

Nationality: British

Label: Island

Year: 1968

Grade: C

Previous Experience of this Artiste: Very little. I've heard a few singles and the album Heavy horses which was ok.

The Trollheart Factor: 2

Landmark value: As a band pushing the envelope by including folk music and medieval themes in their music, Jethro Tull stood out as something very different, but also polarising: you either loved them or hated them. Guess where I stood? Also, for years I thought Ian Anderson's name was Jethro Tull...!

Tracklisting: My Sunday feeling/ Some day the sun won't shine for you/ Beggar's farm/ Move on alone/ Serenade to a cuckoo/ Dharma for one/ it's breaking me up/ Cat's squirrel/ Song for Jeffrey/ Round

Comments: I'm not quite sure what it is I dislike about this band. Yes I am. It's the flute. I've never been a big fan of flutes in general, and the overuse of it on Jethro Tull's music sets my teeth on edge. I'm also not a fan of Anderson's style of singing, which really makes me feel that he is putting on a country bumpkin act: maybe he isn't but that's how it always seemed to me. Not crazy about their agricultural themes either. In fact, if there was any way I could not call this prog rock and avoid including it I would, but they're part of the fabric of what grew to be progressive rock, and so I have to look into them. Doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't.

Actually this probably is not the best album to start with, but there are apparently prog rock influences on it, unlike with The Moody Blues' debut, so for better or worse here we go. Well the bloody flute is right in your face from the first chord, but it almost sounds incongruous against the pretty basic blues music in the opener. Nice bit of Waits-style bass near the end, is about as much as I can take from that. Pretty bleh really; at least the next one up has a cool harmonica and a nice slow blues vibe, but adding a flute onto that does not, for me, make it prog rock or anything close. “Beggar's farm” has a kind of early Fleetwood Mac/Supertramp feel to it, and at least the flute has been dialled back.

“Move on alone” is the only song Jethro Tull played, apparently, on which someone other than Anderson sings, and to be honest it's okay but again, it's not prog, not to me. Sounds pretty dated really, though the guitar on it is good. Very short too, which is not something you can say of their cover of “Serenade for a cuckoo”, which is - oh no! - a jazz standard. Now, I may be going on out a limb here, but I expect to hate this. It doesn't help that it's flute-driven. Ugh. Like some of the worst wallpaper/elevator music I've ever had to sit through. And it's six f**king minutes long! Well it did nothing for me as expected, and flute leading in the next track doesn't help either. Sigh.

For me, Jethro Tull succeed best - on this album anyway - when they stick to the slow blues boogies, as in “It's breaking me up”, with again the return of that harmonica and little or no flute, but then I guess I have to take that back as “Cat's squirrel” is fast and uptempo and great fun. But then again, it's a cover. And there's no flute. Most importantly, there is no flute. Did I mention there's no flute? God I hate that flute. And it's back for “A song for Jeffrey”, leaving its annoying fingermarks on the last instrumental track. Bah!

Favourite track(s): Some day the sun won't shine for you, Beggar's farm

Least favourite track(s): Serenade for a cuckoo, Dharma for one

Overall impression: Okay, as I said this is not a typical JT album, sure, but it has not done anything to change my opinion on them. That however will really have to wait till I review a “proper” Tull offering I guess. For now though, this does not come across to me as prog in any way, shape or form and with hindsight I probably should have omitted it and gone straight to their second album. Still, as it made them very popular I guess it has to have a decent Legacy Rating at least.

Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

Final Rating:

Soft Machine's self-titled first album was, however, restrained in comparison to later efforts, and the longest song on it runs for just over seven minutes, though I'm reliably informed that live versions of another track, “We did it again” could often run to three-quarters of an hour. You sit through that, you're either dedicated or stoned out of your brain. You choose.

Album title: The Soft Machine

Artiste: (The) Soft Machine

Nationality: British

Label: ABC Probe

Year: 1968

Grade: A

Previous Experience of this Artiste: Zero

The Trollheart Factor: 0

Landmark value: One of the progenitors of the Canterbury Scene, and giving birth also to Gong, the impact of Soft Machine upon progressive rock, and psychedelic rock too, can't really be overstated.

Tracklisting: Hope for happiness/Joy of a toy/Hope for happiness reprise/Why am I so short/So boot if at all/ A certain kind/ Save yourself/ Priscilla/Lullabye letter/We did it again/Plus belle qu'une poubelle/Why are we sleeping/Box 25/4 lid

Comments: Can't say I'm sold on Robert Wyatt's vocals; sort of like a low drawl or something. The music's good, pretty penetrating bass and as expected plenty of wild keyboard going on, but I'm not really buying into it just at this point. “Joy of a toy” is much better, love the phased guitar (look, I'm not a guitarist ok? It sounds phased or some sort of effect to me) and Kevin Ayers' slick bass really drives the tune too. Almost a settling down after the somewhat directionless opener. Like this a lot, very laidback. The reprise of the opener drags it all back down though, but at least it's only short.

You can really hear the jazz influences on “Why am I so short”, but despite that (!) I like it. “So boot if at all” (huh?) suffers from that other bugbear of mine, extended drum solos and I feel it too meanders all over the place and is way too long at over seven minutes. Some nice ideas but it's not too cohesive. The organ on “A certain kind” is just gorgeous, however the vocals are so low in the mix I almost can't hear them (I'm never quite sure if this is a fault in my amp, but I've been able to hear the vox on the rest of the tracks okay so I'll say no) then “Save yourself” is much harsher, again organ-driven but very sharp, though at least I can hear the vocals this time. Good enough song to be fair. “Priscilla” is a neat little keyboard workout that works well, instrumental again and it slides right into “Lullabye letter”, which I also like a lot. Interestingly, this track is nothing like the ballad I would have expected; it's quite frenetic really and has some powerful keys in it.

I've been prepared for this from reading about it, but it's still odd to find that “We did it again” is not even basically, but literally, just those four words repeated against pretty much the same melody all through its three minutes and forty-six second run. Different certainly, but I wonder how many people would listen to that for forty-five minutes without being high? Even stranger: this is the first track on which Ayers takes vocal duties, but what can you do with four words? Hard to gauge his performance, and he's only on one other track here. The next one up is just over a minute, with a French title which I can't translate, (either beauty or something, maybe) but it seems to be more or less just an extension of the musical idea within “We did it again”, then “Why are we sleeping?” gives Ayers a chance to sing properly.

Except he speaks. Ah. Great organ line underpinning the melody I must say. A few piano notes then ends the album. Overall I think I liked this more than I hated it, but so far not a fan.

Favourite track(s): Joy of a toy, A certain kind, Priscilla, Lullabye letter, Why are we sleeping

Least favourite track(s): Hope for happiness, So boot if at all

Overall impression: You have to give credit to Soft Machine for their legacy, and this is a decent album, but it hasn't made me want to listen to the rest of their stuff just yet. Still, there are some interesting ideas on it that I'm sure they expanded on, so I'll file this under “may grow to like” and see how we do as the years go on and we move further into the history of progressive rock. For now...

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Album title: S.F. Sorrow

Artiste: The Pretty Things

Nationality: British

Label: Columbia

Year: 1968

Grade: C

Previous Experience of this Artiste: Zero

The Trollheart Factor: 0

Landmark value: Another one of the early concept albums, but other than that I have to say I don't really see the LV for this one. I've never heard of them at all, though of course that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Tracklisting: S.F. Sorrow is born/Bracelets of fingers/She says good morning/Private Sorrow/Balloon burning/Death/Baron Saturday/The Journey/I see yuo/Well of destiny/Trust/Old man going/Loneliest person

Comments: The concept revolves around a life, the eponymous character, and to be fair, the moment it starts, though I'm not that familiar with The Who's epic, from what I have heard I can hear the similarities. It's very hard-folk oriented, with a strong guitar line driving the opener, which leaves you in no doubt as to the theme: “S.F Sorrow is born”. Sebastian F. Sorrow is the protagonist, but as this is a very short look at the album I won't be going into the concept, which I don't know anyway. I hear trumpets and other brass here which somehow gives the song a kind of Mariachi feel in part. “Bracelets of fingers” is a slower track, very Beatles/Beach Boys, then kicks into a kind of Barrett/Floyd vibe, picking up tempo. The stop/start nature of the song is a little offputting; hope that doesn't continue all through the album.

The next one is more hard rock really, good guitar while the one following that is back to folk, with flute and maybe sitar, bit repetitive. I can hear the sound Bowie would adopt in the vocals of Phil May, particularly in “Balloon burning”. Much slower and almost a precursor to some of the stuff Nick Cave would do in the eighties is “Death”, with much moaning and crashing of slow cymbals. Nice bit of guitar coming in to shake it up for a moment but it's basically a dour piece, as you would expect from a song so titled.

“Baron Saturday” has a vague kind of “Yellow submarine” hippy groove to it, some interesting effects in “Well of destiny”, but overall I'm just kind of bored, a little uncaring, and while “Trust” has a nice laidback guitar ballad in it, I'm in that frame of mind now where I'm just waiting for the album to end. Ends okay as it happens, but I'm just not that interested now.

Favourite track(s): Didn't like or dislike anything enough to choose.

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Overall impression: Meh. Probably should have gone with my instincts and not bothered. Thanks, Obama. I mean, Wiki.

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None of which in the least sowed the seeds for the birth and eventual dominance over the seventies of progressive rock, which at its heart had little or no protest, few interest in politics or current events, and really in many ways was the music industry retreating into itself, hiding in the trappings of a softer, happier time and largely ignoring the events taking place around it. Certainly, as time went on, prog bands got more politically aware, but really for most of the seventies they were more concerned with singing about towers in far-off lands, dragons and wizards and higher states of consciousness. Rarely if ever did a prog band take on the issues of the day, and in this way perhaps they made themselves a target for the slavering beast of punk rock, which was waiting its chance to leap upon them and savage them as it snarled and growled and spat at the establishment, and roared in a primordial and often extremely raucous and off-key voice its disenchantment with the status quo.

But that particular showdown was yet almost a decade away, and as American students protested and chanted “Heck no! We won't go!”, thousands of miles across the ocean to the west four friends at Charterhouse Public School were getting together and putting ideas down for a music group, a barman met a bassist and they began gigging at the Marquee, trying out various names of their new band before deciding on Yes, Robert Fripp prepared to unleash King Crimson on an unsuspecting world while Peter Hammill made his entrance with much less fuss, and The Beatles were putting the finishing touches to what would be their penultimate album, a true classic that was destined to be remembered for all time and enshrine the name of the studio where it was recorded in music history.

1969: the year holds almost mystic significance as the world prepared to move into a new decade, and a new way of doing things. The old ways, the old music, held on to so long by the guardians of the values of World War II and the fifties, were slowly being eroded away, and the new decade would belong irrevocably to the young. As synthesisers became more widely available and used, and bands branched out, embracing non-standard instruments such as violin, cello, harmonica, harp, mandolin, saxophone and others, a whole new sound, grounded in and conceived by the bands who had ushered in the beginnings of the prog rock movement over the last two years was about to come to fruition, and a new type of music was about to be born. Having given vent to its birth cries in bands like The Moody Blues, Camel and Procol Harum, progressive rock was beginning to feel its teeth grow, and its little fingers busily reached for the necks of guitars and the keyboards of pianos, while strange, half-formed ideas flitted through its impressionable mind as lyrics began to spool out like broken scenes from a film it was too young to see, never mind understand.

As hard rock and heavy metal would go one way - and eventually the twain would meet, much later - progressive rock would take the other direction and explore the road less travelled, and in the process would have a profound influence on the history of music for the coming decade.

A lot of really pivotal bands were formed in this year, and as we did for the previous year let's take a rather quick look at who they are, and what sort of an impact, if any, they would have on the scene. Obviously, once we get into their albums I'll talk more about them, and some will certainly deserve their own article, but for now here's the list.

Atomic Rooster (1969 – 1975 (i), 1980 – 1983 (ii))

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Vincent Crane, Carl Palmer, Nick Graham

First relevant album: Atomic Rooster, 1970

Impact: 7

The Trollheart Factor: 1

Linked to: The Crazy Word of Arthur Brown, ELP

Not many bands can say they opened for Deep Purple. Fewer can say that Deep Purple opened for them! But after the breakup of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and following his recovery from mental illness, founder Vincent Crane got together with later ELP skinsman Carl Palmer and one of the most important prog rock bands of the seventies was formed.

Beggars Opera (1969 – 1976 )

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Ricky Gardiner, Alan Park, Raymond Wilson, Marshall Erskine and Martin Griffiths

First relevant album: Act One, 1970

Impact: 2

The Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked to:

One of the few, perhaps the only progressive rock band to come out of Scotland before the neo-prog revival of the eighties, Beggars Opera lasted for three albums and a total of seven years before they broke up. Founder Ricky Gardiner later worked with David Bowie and Iggy Pop.

Egg (1969 – 1972 (with a brief revival of sorts in 1974))

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Dave Stewart, Mont Campbell and Clive Brooks

First relevant album: Egg, 1970

Impact: 4

The Trollheart Factor: 0

Linked to: Hatfield and the North, National Health

Another prog band who didn't have too great a time of it. With their debut album released and relatively well received, they seem not to have wanted to put out the followup, and their third album only came about after the split of the band in 1972. Egg also peripherally featured folk supremo Steve Hillage, though in a previous incarnation of the band and before they became Egg.

Eloy (1969 – )

Nationality: German

Original lineup: Frank Bornemann, Erich Schriever, Manfred Wieczorke, Wolfgang Stocker and Helmuth Draht

First relevant album: Eloy, 1971

Impact: 4

The Trollheart Factor: 4

Linked to:

One of the few German progressive rock bands not to be linked to the Krautrock movement, Eloy were in fact pioneers in German rock history, being among the first bands in that country not to just play covers but to compose their own material. Their name is taken from the enlightened humans in the HG Wells novel The Time Machine. They are still active today (although they were in hiatus from 1998 to 2009) although their last album, to date at any rate, was that one in 2009.)

Focus (1969 – 1978 (i) 2002 - (ii))

Nationality: Dutch

Original lineup: Thijs van Leer, Jan Akkerman, Hans Cleuver, Martijn Dresden

First relevant album: Focus plays Focus/In and out of Focus, 1970

Impact: 6

The Trollheart Factor: 1

Linked to:

There's never quite been a thriving Dutch prog rock scene, but Focus were the ones to blaze a trail for the Netherlands and are probably best known for the hit single “Hocus Pocus”, as well as having guitarist Jan Akkerman in their ranks at one time.

Hawkwind (1969 – )

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Huw Lloyd-Langton, Michael Davies

First relevant album: Hawkwind, 1970

Impact: 10

The Trollheart Factor: 8

Linked to: Space Ritual, Motorhead, Pink Fairies, Inner City Unit

Perhaps one of the true progenitors of space rock, and certainly the first to cross over into prog rock, Hawkwind are often known for being the springboard for later Motorhead vocalist and founder Lemmy Kilminster, but he did not join until 1971. Hawkwind use science-fiction and fantasy as well as classical literature in their lyrics, make a lot of use of feedback and spoken passages, effects and soundscapes. They are one of the oldest progressive rock bands, having never split up or taken a break, and have been going strong now for a total of forty-six years!

Organisation (1969 – 1970 )

(Already mentioned in the “Before the Storm” feature)

Renaissance (1969 – 1987 (i) 1998 – 2002 (ii) 2002 - (iii) )

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Annie Haslam, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf, John Tout, Michael Dunford, Jon Camp and Terry Sullivan

First relevant album: Renaissance, 1969

Impact: ?

The Trollheart Factor: 1

Linked to:

I must admit, I only know of Renaissance through the hit single “Northern Lights”, and for some reason thought they were Canadian! It seems they've been around from the start though, and are still going, having released a total of thirteen albums, so I had better get reading up on them! They are the first of the bands featured here to actually have released their debut in 1969, so we'll obviously be looking at it.

Supertramp (1969 – )

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson, Richard Palmer, Robert Millar

First relevant album: Supertramp, 1970

Impact: 5

The Trollheart Factor: 9

Linked to:

Although many will scoff at the inclusion of Supertramp as a prog rock band, that is how they started out, later metamorphosing into a sort of Genesis pop clone with hit singles like “Breakfast in America”, “Dreamer” and “The logical song”. Despite their later becoming the creative nucleus of the band and penning some of their greatest hits and best known songs, both Davies and Hodgson were initially reluctant to write lyrics for their debut album and left this to Richard Palmer, with the result that their first album is really nothing like what they would become known for. Although technically there were two incarnations of Supertramp, the one with Hodgson and the one that continued on after he left in 1982, the band never officially broke up so in reality they have been going since 1969, and are still going today, after a fashion.

Uriah Heep (1969 – )

Nationality: British

Original lineup: Mick Box, David Byron, Alex Napier, Paul Newton, Ken Hensley

First relevant album: Very 'eavy, Very 'umble, 1970

Impact: 8

The Trollheart Factor: 5

Linked to:

Another band who have been going since '69 without a break, Uriah Heep have recorded twenty-four albums, their latest being released last year. Founder Mick Box is the only remaining original member.