When I was a young man I remember hearing thanks to my older brother and dear friend Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon for the first time. It was a lot to take in at first as I remember, but I knew that it was reaching out for me to take hold. My brother at the time had dabbled in the genre of "progressive rock" and had what I thought at the time was a massive record collection (approx. 100 vinyl albums). His collection explored mostly the world of hard rock though (Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper and Kiss). At the time I was grooving with the likes of The Beatles, The Bee Gees, The Osmonds , The Animals, The Troggs and almost any other band which started with the word "The". Pink Floyd offered me an alternative, however, later in life I heard that they too were once called "The" Pink Floyd! "The Dark Side" had a major influence on my enthusiasm towards the music that I would learn to know, love and appreciate later on in my life. It would also be a big mistake to not reference the impact and influence that The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album had on my ears as a young man.
Soon after, I became more and more aware and interested in other band which challenged the boundaries of music, offering different styles and creative elements. During these years of experimentation I managed to build quite a large record collection littered by bands such as Japan, Ultravox ,Gary Numan, The Kinks, Yes, King Crimson, Alan Parson’s Project, Jethro Tull , Utopia, Richard Wright, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Talk Talk , Genesis, FM and the Blue Oyster Cult to name just a few. Later in University I ran into a few other progressive rock fans who continued to expand my knowledge and appreciation for this rock genre. The next phase of my exploration took me into the realms of Marillion, Fripp and Eno, Klaus Schulze, Focus, ELP, Van Der Graaf Generator and Mike Oldfield.
People have tried to define "Progressive" over the years and have all failed miserably....If you have ever seen the movie "Dead Poets Society" and the famous scene where Robin Williams reads an author's analytical description of what Poetry is, will understand why definitions generally fail...Progressive Rock is art! and has only conceptual boundaries...It is totally a personal experience......the music is as much Jazz, classical, fusion, folk, electronic as it is rock ! Progressive rock was alive in the late 60's, 70's , 80's, 90's and yes even in the 00's. It may have been most prominent in the 70's but the 80's and 90's have produced some extraordinary albums. I am not bound by anyone elses "fabricated boundaries" or "definitions" of what is Progressive or what is Rock...as you will see I have found my very own personal and what I think is a very unique vision of what is Progressive and what is not. Most of all I hope you enjoy the music and perhaps find a few albums that make you "Burn A Little Brigher Now!"
….the journey is really the best part…..
This web site is dedicated to my family for being so damn progressive !
